


Code: Ishtar

by felicia_angel



Series: Tear You Apart [3]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Bad Dreams, Chris has issues, Chris isn't taking some of this shit, Finn Lives, Gen, I actually like Chris, I also lie about this, I just torment him because I love him, I promise not all of them will be killed, I promise sex later, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Piers Nivans Lives, Piers is def not taking any shit, Rape/Non-con Elements, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 6 rewrite, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 spoilers, Slut Shaming, Tentacle Rape, The Marhawa Desire, a lot of OCs - Freeform, because he's awesome and screw you, body issues, story-heavy again, this was based on a porn that's a minute long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 01:40:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicia_angel/pseuds/felicia_angel
Summary: In the aftermath of Chris being rescued from Albert Wesker, he must attempt to work through the B.S.A.A and his own thoughts on what happened. Meanwhile, Wesker finds a new person to help him plot a new way to retrieve his lost Chris, and get to his son Jake...





	1. To the Land of No Return, The Land of Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> My beta, Lullite, is the best person ever and I am always grateful that she can help me and point out when my 1am ramblings don't make sense.
> 
> For those who are wondering, I'm compressing the time between RE5 and RE6, due to the fact that a) the storyline for RE6 is painful, especially Leon's campaign, and I don't want to watch more of it than I have to; b) I got a manga that's the prequel to RE6 and it's story is WAY BETTER so I'm using that; and c) I like Chris, Piers, Finn, and Jake. I need them to suffer now.
> 
> ...Also the quotes are based off [The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld](http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/ishtar.htm). It's a fun read, though that link isn't the most comprehensive of the poem, but it gives you an idea and it has a lot of thees and thous. and gender-ambiguous people saving goddesses of fertility.

##### |To the land of no return, the land of darkness...|

 

TerraSave is a relatively new organization, not as militaristic as the B.S.A.A. Its mission to help with recovery after a bioterrorism incident has drawn a diverse crew, both military and civilian. The sheer scale of the incident in Kijuju has necessitated innumerable resources and collaboration between the affected countries and territories, the B.S.A.A., and various other non-governmental organizations. A good three weeks after the incident, the region is finally stabilizing, though scattered pockets of Plagas and Uroboros infestation remain. In addition to clearing the remaining B.O.W.s, the B.S.A.A. is extracting the kidnapped test subjects from the underground research facility and investigating Wesker’s laboratory in Kijuju. The area that leads out towards the oil fields and surrounding swamps has become a place for the B.S.A.A. and TerraSave to strategize together.

This is where Sheva meets Claire Redfield, Chris’s sister.  There has already been talk amongst the older B.S.A.A. agents about how Wesker would have to face the little sister’s wrath. After seeing Claire in person, this is not hard to believe.  Twelve years have passed since her travel to Raccoon City during it’s famous epidemic to find her brother. The only thing keeping her from him this time is the fact that she doesn’t know where he is, but that hadn’t been enough to deter her in the past.

Doug wolf-whistles when he catches sight of her talking furiously on the phone, obviously having a heated exchange with whoever is on the other end. “Remind me to not get on her bad side. Speaking of, shouldn’t we get to the debriefing?”

“Don’t let her hear. We’ll have to escort her,” Josh whispers, only half-joking, “I don’t need that stress in my life.”

“We’re B.S.A.A.. We’re going to have that stress in our life no matter what,” Sheva points out.

“I can handle monsters and outbreaks. But angry little sisters? No. Not enough pay for _that_.”

“You know, we can call Jill, ask her if he’s up for a reunion.”

“And then, you can tell her about that one cafe that serves the best coffee but only seats you if there are _two_ people,” Doug says, oblivious to Josh’s glare. “I’m just saying, it’s a lovely place, and you never know, cute lady like that...”

“NO.”

“She’ll need the coffee after--”

“I said no!”

“Captain Stone!” Claire walks up and catches the men unaware during their squabbling. “I’m Claire Redfield from TerraSave. I heard...” She shifts on her feet, her formality gone. “Is my brother ok?”

_That’s not a loaded question at all._

“He’s recovering, Ms. Redfield. We don’t have any more news on him yet,” Josh answers evasively. It is the truth. They don’t know what’s going on with Chris, other than that he was admitted to the West Africa B.S.A.A.’s medical facility. Affini, the director of the European division, had dropped by earlier before leaving again, hopefully back to Europe. Rumor has it that they sent The Nurse to deal with him. No one would be stupid enough to linger after a dressing-down from her.

A crossed expression immediately appears on Claire’s face. “Captain, I know you all have work to do, but if you can point me to where my brother is, that’d help me out.”

“I can give you Jill’s new number,” Sheva gives Claire her most affable smile and a handshake while the two men slowly back away, intimidated. “Sheva Alomar. I worked with Jill Valentine to recover your brother.”

Claire pales a bit at the word “recover.” Josh motions for Doug to keep quiet, leaving Claire in Sheva’s capable hands.

=

Jill knows that Claire isn’t about to stop calling her, but she has a number of other pressing problems to deal with right now. When she asked Chris earlier about allowing Claire to visit, he’d gone quiet.

“I can’t…” He’d looked up at her skittishly. “She doesn’t...she doesn’t even know about the general discharge, about Clay, or anything else. I couldn’t keep her from what Umbrella was doing back then, but...I can’t let her see me like this. Not like this.”

She understands where Chris is coming from. If only she could convey that to Claire without revealing too much about what happened. Chris’s first instinct is to protect Claire by keeping things from her, even though this tactic has backfired in the past, landing her in trouble in Raccoon City then Rockfort Island. Claire has always done her best to keep up with Chris, but if she doesn’t yet know about what happened to him in the Air Force…

“ _Valentine_ ,” she forces her attention back to the video conference with the B.S.A.A. top brass. After the fiasco with O’Brian and the FBC Chairman a few years back, the B.S.A.A. leadership was reformed as an executive committee consisting of the heads of the various regional branches, in lieu of having a single person calling the shots. It has made the B.S.A.A. slightly more impervious to influence by the pharmaceutical conglomerates funding it. However, it also means that meetings involving the top brass take three times as long.

Especially when the subject of discussion is Chris.

“Yes, I heard you.” She glances at the data they are going over at this meeting. Many of the images and files are disturbing, detailing everything that happened to her as Tricell’s guinea pig. Worse are the files on Chris that have only recently been corroborated with what was found at Wesker’s lab.

“ _Do you have anything to add?_ ”

She inhales deeply. There is no reason to get angry at them. There had been plenty of other times where unexpected betrayals led to catastrophe. Even the Secret Service was rocked by treachery a few years ago, resulting in an international incident involving the Los Illuminados cult in Spain and the Plagas. But to have someone use Wesker’s data to say that _Chris_ betrayed them? Not going to fly.

It’s why she wishes Chris would be willing see Claire, or at least someone besides Jill and the medical staff. It would at least give her a chance to rage.

“Only my continued protest over the decision to even entertain the idea that someone who was being raped repeatedly for two months would betray our organization to the very person doing this to him. Or that he _chose_ to be experimented on and used by the man he spent ten years trying to bring to justice.”

“ _Valentine--_ ” the head of the B.S.A.A. North America division starts, but she’s already riled up.

“No, I’m seriously confused by this...this...victim blaming tactic that you’re using on him when--”

 “ _Jill,_ ” Clive O’Brian tries to calm her. While she hates that he’s here, a part of her is glad for it. After dealing with his own demons, he has taken on a more Columbo-esque attitude that she finds grounding. “ _Everyone, please calm down. Let me try to get the facts straight._ _The files we have from the investigators at the plane’s crash site, as well as the audio from Agent Alomar and Captain Valentine’s recording equipment, support that Redfield was not acting in conjunction with Wesker. The point of this investigation is to rule out the possibility that he might have done so, and to look into the possibility that he was compromised in some other way during his two months of captivity._ ” There are murmurs of agreement. “ _Why would he give in to Wesker of all people?_ ”

Silence greets his question. Jill can’t help but feel vindicated by the lack of reasoning behind their accusations.

“ _Redfield was no doubt seriously harmed by these events, but there is nothing to suggest that he has been compromised. Jill? Did you notice anything that might suggest he was...won over...by Wesker?”_

“Nothing,” Jill tells them. A few of the detractors look rather deflated now that O’Brian is on her side. “He’s doing his best to recover.”

=

_Inky tendrils wind around Wesker’s arm and torso, terminating in a glowing orange mass set into the center of his chest. Thicker tentacles entangle Chris’s arms and legs. He struggles in vain as his arms are pulled behind his back and his legs are forced apart. Wesker leans down, breath hot against his rapidly growing cock._

_“You did well, my Chris,” Wesker whispers, licking a long stripe up his cock then going back down and briefly sucking on his balls. More of the tendrils move over his chest. A few blossom open like lattice work and begin to squeeze his nipples. He gasps at the sensation of having so much done to him again, but knowing it’s Wesker..._

NO! No, it’s not! Stop! Don’t...no...please no more, no more!

_Lube-coated fingers are exchanged for a tentacle that shoves into him far too deeply. He screams himself hoarse as it pulses and pushes something large and egg-shaped into him. His knees are pushed against his chest to open him for more egg-shaped things to be deposited. His back arches with each intrusion._

_“My lovely little slut.” Clay’s face appears through the mass of black tentacles he has become. The man who should be dead grabs a fistful of Chris’s hair to pull his head backwards in order to start thrusting into his mouth._

_“Your captain will treat you well,” Wesker whispers against his neck before shoving in alongside the tentacle in his ass. He tries to cry out but can’t, too busy choking on Clay’s cock. They all begin to move, filling him on both ends and--_

He wakes with a start, the restraints on his wrists agitating him further. He struggles and screams incoherently until he eventually registers the familiar voice and a hand on his shoulder, softer and smaller than the others.

“Chris, it was just a nightmare. He doesn’t have you. I promise. You’re at the hospital. You’ll be ok. You’re safe. Chris, breathe,” the voice says soothingly.

Tamping down the feeling of sheer terror, he focuses on the voice and the hand rubbing his shoulder. It’s Jill. She’s at the hospital with him. He’s safe. He’s shivering and...

_Oh no... No..._

He’s hard. He dreamed about being _raped_ and that made him...

“Chris, breathe with me. Relax. I’m going to take off the restraints now.” He feels lightheaded and numb as she does, shuddering as her hands pass above his lap that is thankfully covered by a blanket. He wants her to leave so he can deal with it himself, but he’s afraid. Ever since he ended up in Wesker’s clutches, the touch of anything other than Wesker no longer elicited a pleasure response. Now, he’s gotten a hard-on from dreams of a Uroboros-infested Wesker, and…

“Chris, focus on me.”

He closes his eyes, ashamed that he’s not shaking from cold, but from arousal. The last time he saw his eyes in the bathroom mirror, the irises are still red around the edges, bleeding into the natural brown color and making it close to maroon. There is no way that she’ll want to see that and be reminded of how much he has given in, that he’s panicking because he got turned on by a dream about his sick captor...

 _“My lovely little slut...”_ **A slut for two captains now… _At least Wesker didn’t say he’s going to give you something and then slapped you in the face for it like Clay_ … No, he just decided to screw you raw, wet, and covered in--**

“CHRIS,” Jill’s insistent voice makes him open his eyes. Her hand on his chin keeps him from turning away. Not daring to make eye contact, he aimlessly searches for something else to focus on. The sparsely-furnished hospital room contains only a chair, a bedside table, a privacy curtain, and the bathroom door. After a long moment, he hesitantly looks back at Jill, whose steady gaze has remained on his face. “I’m not going to leave you because of what happened. None of it was your fault.”

“Dreaming that he still has me, that he’s…” The numbness and lightheadedness come back again, rendering him unable to string a sentence together, but she somehow guesses what he is trying to say. Her eyes briefly dart down and her face turns as red as Claire’s hair.

For some reason, her reaction snaps him out of it and makes him laugh bitterly. “What are _you_ embarrassed about?”

“You just had a panic attack for, like, half an hour and you’ve still got an erection, Chris, what the _actual hell_?”

His face heats up, though more from how she phrased things. He looks away when she releases his chin.

“It’s...it’s my problem.”

“I want to say you’re right, but...Chris, what’s really going on?”

He debates trying to jack off so that she’ll be forced to leave him alone, but her obvious worry makes him try to explain, despite how humiliating the whole thing is.

“Wesker said that...the…” He curses his inability speak without stuttering over every word. “Wesker said that what they gave me means I...that I can’t…” he makes an aborted motion towards his lap, “without...Wesker.”

Jill is quiet for a long moment. “So...do you want me to…try...?”

He shakes his head immediately, and is upset at himself for refusing without a second thought. He loves Jill. Before everything went to hell, he’d wanted to be with her as much as he’d wanted to be with Wesker. They tried a few times, before and after Raccoon City, but they’ve always felt better as friends. The last time was after the fiasco with the FBC, before what happened at Spencer’s mansion. But to just…

“I...it’s not...I…”

“Chris, you don’t have to apologize,” she reassures him, even though he’d just basically told her that he wasn’t interested...

“I fucking hate this. I hate it. I fucked up and now...now...” He rubs his wrists. The hospital restraints are soft and not nearly as tight as what Wesker used, but they must have reminded him enough to bring about that nightmare. He regrets his earlier escape attempt more than ever. After his first week at the medical facility, the researchers had shown up with their fancy equipment to do tests on him. For some reason, he lost it at the sight of them and bolted, though he didn't make it far. When he was brought back, he was put in restraints to prevent any further attempts to run off. Ever since then, the restraints have stayed on unless there is someone directly supervising him. No amount of pleading to the medical staff or promises of good behavior have done any good. They only give him pitying looks, which he hates even more, and tell him it’s an order from the higher-ups.

“I can’t believe I was only there for two months... I can barely trust that you got me out of there...”

Jill reaches over to lightly pinch his arm. When his brows knit together in confusion, she smiles at him, “You need to know you’re awake, right?”

“Thanks,” he says, and means it. Jill’s known him for a long time. She is the first person he opened up to about what happened with Clay, but Wesker was able figure out so much on his own...

“My old squadron, are they…”

“They’re all fine from what we know. To be extra sure, we’re going to get a visual confirmation on all of them.”

The look in her eyes gets him to sigh. “No.”

“Chris, for fuck’s sake--”

“No, Jill.”

“You don’t deserve a general discharge! You don’t deserve that on your record. Billy Cohen was recently exonerated and you’re not going to fight your general? He was up for _execution,_ Chris.”

“And his testimony, corroborated by Rebecca, got him the full pardon. It also helped with the government’s case against Umbrella. Dredging up my general discharge will only make people question my old team. It’s won’t do any good, especially not when Clay’s already dead.”

She doesn’t argue, though she is probably itching to. A general discharge made his return to Raccoon City easy, mostly because - he’d only learned recently - Clay sabotaged all his other efforts to keep a job. Wesker and Barry were able to see through the lies, though Chris wonders how much of that was because of his own failure. After getting kicked out of the Air Force, he’d rehearsed what he planned to say over and over until it was second nature, just in case anyone asked about the general discharge, but it hadn’t been enough.

_“Not good enough,” Wesker said coldly. “Either I get one name or they’re all at fault.”_

It’s been nearly a month since they got him out of the madman’s clutches, and a week since his sister tried to visit him. Being able to see a clock, sleep in a bed, and eat three square meals a day still feels weird, as if it could be taken away at any moment.

One of the nurses whose name escapes him comes in and goes about her normal routine.  Eventually, Jill gets a message on her PDA.

“I gotta go. They’ve found something.”

He wants to go with her. He hates being in the hospital, hates having to go back into the restraints. However, he’s also leery of going out and suddenly mutating, or worse, running into Wesker again. If that happens, can he kill Wesker?

_Without question._

**_And if it turns out you_ ** **do _need him?_**

He looks up at the ceiling, cursing that dark, inner voice that continues to torment him. It doesn’t matter. If this turns out to be something that is beyond his ability to handle, he’ll put a bullet in his own head.


	2. "Ho there, does this one wish to dwell with me? To eat clay as food and drink dust as wine?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris works to recover from all that's happened. Wesker does his best to find his son, and begins a sinister plan to get him back, as well as punish others for past misdeeds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is another story-heavy story. Sadly, there are only so many ways I can have Chris be kidnapped and turned by Wesker. Also I need to fix RE6.
> 
> I do, don't argue with me, we all know it needs to be done or else they wouldn't have done what they did with RE7.
> 
> Thanks again to my wonderful beta lullite, who points out weirdness I accidentally write in at 1am for random reasons ^^.

##### |”Ho there, does this one wish to dwell with me? To eat clay as food and drink dust as wine?”|

 

Wesker curses his luck. A backdoor has been placed into his networks somehow. While it did get the information about Chris, Lenka, and the Prototype-enhancing drug, no other files were accessed. It is child’s play to remove the back-door, but nevertheless disconcerting that one was put in without his notice.

Someone, perhaps from the B.S.A.A., has a way into his documents. If they took the files on Chris and Lenka, they may be trying to figure out how to use Chris against him.

 _Chris...he’s mine, and they_ dare _think to use him?_

Chris needs to realize that Wesker is the best for him, that Wesker will protect him and those he cares about while destroying the unworthy. He really should have taken Chris with him much earlier, perhaps even back at the Arklay mansion. If he had, Chris would be by his side at this moment, obedient and ready to be used in every way possible.

He turns the knife in his hand. It’s Chris’s S.T.A.R.S. combat knife, which Jill left embedded in his shoulder during their battle almost a month ago. The shoulder has long since healed. After he fell out of the plane, he left the area before the B.S.A.A. had time to assemble a manhunt, then obtained resources from one of a number of groups that eagerly backed him in exchange for his expertise in B.O.W. development. TRICELL has a great deal of egg on its face from the fiasco in Africa, not to mention the incriminating data that Excella left on the tanker. He should have erased those files while he was on the ship, but there were more pressing concerns at the time.

It appears that Chris’s little sister has finally found her way back to him. Ever since meeting her on Rockford Island and seeing her abilities, Wesker has contemplated reanimating Burnside’s corpse to torment her, as payback for killing Will Birkin. However, she also showed kindness to Sherry when the child needed it the most. While that might not have mattered at one point, it does now.

_Sherry is not the only good that Will left behind before his obsession with the G-virus overtook him, but she is his legacy. She and my son will inherit a better world._

He thinks of Sherry’s wide-eyed innocence and calm questions, of the times he had to go pick her up from school because Will and Annette were too busy. She’d gone with him, guilelessly accepting that her mother and father were working to better her life. When he faked his own death, leaving her behind had always been a nagging regret.

Sherry, whose parents neglected her in favor of their work on the G-virus, was saved by the man whom Ada has a soft spot for and the sister of a man that until in recent months, Wesker thought he hated.

His train of thought is interrupted by a call from Ada Wong.

“ _They arrested Simmon’s little pet project before she could leave. I got her data. Uploading now._ ” He is surprised by the sheer amount of valuable information. Given her betrayal in Spain, he wasn’t expecting her to be so helpful. Of course, her loyalties were with a rival company back then. Now, with a reduction in the number of parties involved in the B.O.W. trade, courtesy of the B.S.A.A., he and Ada happen to be on the same side this time around.

 _“Also, the Family has something going on in China. I’m going to take a look and send some hints over to Leon afterwards. Let him and his new partner clean things up._ ” Though she doesn’t sound upset about Kennedy having a new partner, he contemplates finding a way to make the Secret Service agent hers. Despite her previous treachery, it would be a waste to kill her. She is capable and would be a worthy addition to his new world. Kennedy is also quite resourceful, though Chris is better by far.

_“How was Africa?”_

“There were good points, but overall the mission was a bust. Uroboros turned out to be a useless endeavor.” He puts the knife down, debating whether he should return it to Chris with Jill’s head attached. “Any news on Jake Muller?”

“ _For someone who’s a soldier of fortune, he is surprisingly hard to track down. His mercenary group has recently returned to Edonia from overseas, probably hoping to get hired by either the government or the Edonian Liberation Army in the civil war. The ELA insurgents are planning something bigger. They have at least one major backer, maybe two, who is promising to supply B.O.W.s. One of these backers seems to have Russian connections and calls itself Neo-Umbrella.”_ She pauses, souding uncharacteristically serious. _“This Neo-Umbrella is popping up in China, Russia, and Eastern Europe. They’re making the Family uneasy.”_

“Sounds like someone is trying to make Umbrella rise from the ashes.” He would rather the company died along with Spencer’s delusions of godhood. Alex likely has something to do with this Neo-Umbrella, considering that it has been traced to Russia. By invoking the name, she must be trying to attract former Umbrella loyalists and anyone yearning to do research without having to worry about ethics or regulations.

“Anything else of interest you want to sell me, Ada?”

“ _My, still upset over what happened in Spain all those years ago?_ ” Her mouth curls in amusement. “ _The Family is focused on settling things down in Edonia, even if it means allowing the country to be partitioned. The unrest is getting too close to one of their schools in the Balkans, near the Edonian coast. The Spiders, and your son, may be there, if the cards are played right.”_

=

Claire knows that her brother hates looking weak and struggles to trust people completely. That doesn’t stop her from making sure he’s ok, because big brother or not, he sucks at taking care of himself.

Ok, so he has a few issues. She is confident enough in herself to have gone to a good therapist to figure things out. A notable cause of her own issues is from having to survive an infected city with a young girl in tow while on the run from the girl’s murderous, mutated father. All that, however, is overshadowed by her and Chris’s family drama. Back when she was still in elementary school, someone accused Chris of being gay. He tried to shield her from the subsequent rumors that inevitably went around, but wasn’t entirely successful. He ended up leaving for the Air Force the second Dad signed off on the paperwork and told him to get out. She followed six years later, but for very different reasons.

She wonders if he ever knew that she overheard Dad calling him almost ten years ago, after not speaking to him in ages, to officially cast him out of the family. After hearing the whole thing, she’d left home and never went back. In recent years, their other relatives have reached out to her through social media, trying to make her “see reason” and come home. Joining TerraSave has not stopped their efforts. She doubts that trying to justify Chris to them would do much, besides more harsh words about how he’s a terrible influence.

It’s no surprise that it takes her a week to get approval to see Chris, but it’s nonetheless annoying to have to jump through so many loopholes. Still, it is best to go through the proper channels, rather than sneaking in like she’d originally planned. Her boss still doesn’t know she has his badge, and she is going to keep it that way, mostly because she is awkward enough around the guy. Telling him “I stole your badge to gain access to where my brother is being kept while he is recovering from two months of torture” really shouldn’t come before “I heard about this great cafe in town.” She’s certain of that, even though she’s only ever really flirted with a guy who was kept on a prison island for most of his life.

_Maybe don’t think about Steve right now._

“You’re awfully quiet about that.” Jill’s voice comes from a room with the door left ajar. That must be the room she’s looking for.

“You want me to be upset about it?”

“Chris, they’re basically hamstringing you just because of what Affini said. If you do this...”

“Piers will keep an eye on me, and I can help Hosea out. Affini might hate me, but he isn’t about to keep me locked up forever out of spite. He’ll make sure I’m good.”

Chris normally works independently or is floated from group to group as needed, but it sounds like he’s now going to be under the control of someone who hates him.

_What are you thinking, Chris? You can’t put yourself through that again!_

“Chris--”

“Jill… After everything, I need someone to not treat me like I need to be handled with kid gloves, someone who’ll send me out if the need arises, even if it’s just to play in their backyard. I understand why you want me with you and your new command back in the states, but I can’t just sit still.”

“Well, Affini will _make_ you sit still.”

“Oh? Last I heard, you’re about equal to him in pull. I also heard that what happened here is enough to make you the B.S.A.A. liaison to a lot of places.”

Jill says something unintelligible as Chris chuckles fondly. She hasn’t heard him laugh like this in years, ever since Jill disappeared.

“At least _someone_ managed to have fun. I also heard that Josh hasn’t asked you out yet.”

“Keep this up. See if I don’t get Claire in here.”

There’s no reply.  

“She’s coming by to visit, and I seriously think it’s time you tell her.”

“No, Jill. She doesn’t need to know.”

“Chris…” Jill’s voice gets quieter. Claire moves closer to better eavesdrop on the conversation. “I saw what you were doing between Spencer Mansion and...and South Africa. Claire and the others were busy, but I saw how much work you were doing, how many assignments you signed up for, how many recruits you got.”

She is not surprised that in order to get over his grief, Chris had thrown himself into work. After the fall of Umbrella, there was a race to become the next pharmaceutical giant. The former Umbrella scientists who wanted an outlet for their unethical experiments were eagerly scooped up by rival companies also eager to profit from the blackmarket B.O.W. business. For the last few years, Chris was so busy with missions that he barely had time to stop by his apartment. She didn’t even realize that he was missing until she saw his name on the list of hospitalized and quarantined from Kijuju. It has taken too long for her to even get here and now, she’s not sure if seeing him will make things better or worse.

“Affini isn’t going to let that happen, Chris. He wants you kept under quarantine. He barely approved of Piers being your handler. With Wesker still at large, he’s trying to use that as an excuse to--”

“I know,” he sounds resigned, “but soon he’ll have to give in and let me out. Something is going down in Edonia.”

“What?”

“Wesker was making a big deal about it, back when he had me with him. I know the debriefing I gave helped somewhat, but that kid in Edonia is important.”

Jill lets out a frustrated huff. “You’ve only just been cleared for light exercise! You really think you can just...what, go into Edonia and convince some mercenary to come along quietly?”

She has to side with Jill on this one.

“I’m hoping more to...get back into it and find him. Very few people know what he really means to Wesker. I have to find him before Wesker does. Or, at least, get well enough to be of some use.”

Chris always wants to protect others, which often ended up with him getting hurt. She steels herself for their first encounter in months. She needs to see him, needs to make sure he’s alright this time. Ideally he’ll open up a bit more to her, though she doubts that will happen. She steps into the doorway and freezes. She hasn’t seen Jill in years, ever since that ill-fated mission to look for Spencer. Jill’s hair is now platinum blonde instead of dark brown, making her seem too pale. Chris, though...  

“Claire…” his voice is quiet. He looks at her for a secondbefore quickly averting his eyes. She wonders what happened to make him so afraid and unable to even look at her.  

“Claire,” Jill pats her on the shoulder, “I need to go and check up on a few things. If you want to talk afterwards, I’ll be over at the B.S.A.A. headquarters, okay?”

“Y-yeah,” she slowly walks up to her brother, who seems to be struggling to figure out what to say.

“I know that...I mean...I know I didn’t, but last time you went to Raccoon City and I can’t--”

Whatever explanation he was trying to give is put on hold by the hug she gives him. He pauses, as if surprised, before he carefully hugs her back. His right hand is in a brace. She tries not to let her imagination get out of control about how his hand got broken.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters against her shoulder, “...sorry.”

“You said you were going on a mission, not...kidnapped and...and…” She sniffs, hating this. She doesn’t know who had held him captive, but the list of suspects is long. Chris no doubt has a long list of enemies from going head-to-head with powerful companies and other B.O.W. merchants.

“Dammit Chris, I saw your name and… Why didn’t you name me as your next of kin?”

His expression drops. “It was you last time I went missing, and...”

“That was--”

“I had to talk to Leon about what _really_ happened.”

“Look, he was mostly on his own and I was watching over--”

“What about Paris?”

 _FUCK_. “Paris doesn’t count.”

“It does, Claire. You pissed off Umbrella enough that they sent in an _attack helicopter_. I only knew shit was going down because of that.”

“See! That was a good thing! You figured out where I was!”

His glare means whatever argument she is about to come up definitely won’t work. She doesn’t care, he was missing for two months. He’s not allowed to use Rockfort Island against her, _again_ , or talk about “protecting her” and whatever else.

“Claire, I know you’re worried, and I get why, but...I didn’t want you to hear about it and get hurt again. You were in Raccoon because I didn’t tell you anything and I never wanted that to happen again, but I don’t...I don’t... _can’t_...protect you from this. Not from Wesker when he wants...when he’s after me.”

Upon hearing the name of the person who held Chris captive, Claire leans back to look at her brother. She gets why he is trying so hard to shield her from all this, especially given everything she’s heard about Wesker, but it’s more than that.

Though some part of her is afraid to ask, she wants to know why he has bandages on his neck, what exactly happened to him during the two months he was missing, and what’s wrong with his eyes. Her brother's eyes have changed. Instead of the the usual warm brown, they now have a reddish tint.

“I don’t know what to do either,” she tells him, tears pricking her eyes, “but I’d rather know that you’re missing instead of being left in the dark like this. I...I’ll leave it to the B.S.A.A. to find you. Hell, I’ll wait for Jill to drag you back again, but...don’t let me find out by seeing your name like that again. Don’t leave me thinking you’re just on some long assignment when--” She’s crying for real now, and hugs him tight, burying her face against his shoulder. “Please, Chris.”

He kisses the top of her head like he used to when she was a kid. “Okay. I promise.”

=

Enrique glares at Jill Valentine over the call, wishing that she is not going to confirm what he already knows. He is well aware that she’ll try to get something out of this, but it is better to give her what she wants, at least for now. He already found out last month that the analyst who supposedly sent the files on Redfield died long before Redfield was even taken. He has kept quiet about it, as the incriminating files on Redfield made it easy to justify his continued quarantine by the B.S.A.A.. Now that Valentine’s found out about it, she is definitely going to use it as leverage.

“I didn’t know.” The lie comes easily.

“ _No one did, Affini. But the only information that analyst sent was on Chris. Someone must be trying to manipulate the B.S.A.A. for their own purposes…_ ”

“I have already increased our security precautions.”

She and Redfield cannot be trusted because they harbor within them the remnants of Umbrella. Redfield is even less reliable. He had given in so easily to baser desires, then came running back to the B.S.A.A. the minute Valentine showed up. It doesn’t matter right now, though.

Whoever stole the analyst’s identity left the B.S.A.A. office the same day the file was sent. There is no clear surveillance footage of the person from anywhere. He must be dealing with an experienced spy who had used his prejudice against him.

He has become compromised as well, because of his distaste for Redfield.

“ _So you’ll let Piers and the others to help him?_ ”

“He will not lead a team, no matter what his title. He will not be permitted to bring another team to their demise.”

He waits for the expected protest, but Valentine instead nods slowly. “ _Fine. He doesn’t have to be the one in charge, but he is going to be cleared for work, and he is senior enough to at least plot strategy in an emergency situation. In the meantime, while he’s still at the medical facility, get rid of the restraints right now. Don’t even pretend it wasn’t your doing._ ”

Damn her and her insight. Maybe it’s a byproduct of the t-antibodies in her.

“He will only be permitted to deal with minor incursions. Eastern Europe is currently having some issues, and we have intercepted communications from the Edonian Liberation Army regarding the purchase of B.O.W.s for use in their rebellion. By the time Redfield is ready, they’ll likely be starting.”

“ _Understandable._ ”

“...and he will have someone check on his physical and mental state on a regular basis.”

Valentine looks at him curiously. “ _Sure, if you can find someone that he’ll be willing to see. The only thing I_ can _say is that whoever fed you the information probably has a grudge, and knows that you do too. Chris managed, after Arklay, to get to Umbrella and nearly shut them down. He rescued his sister on his own, and he’s a founding member of the B.S.A.A.. Whatever else you want to pull on him, remember that leaving him alone will only mean he’ll figure out a way to get thing done, just with different backers._ ”

She leans closer to the screen with barely restrained anger. “ _Oh, and if that happens, and Wesker gets him again?_ I’m _holding you responsible, Affini. Remember_ that. _”_

The call ends abruptly. He looks up at the ceiling. Ideally, Redfield should be kept under indefinite quarantine so that the effects of his viral infection can be fully studied. However, other influential members of the B.S.A.A., in addition to Valentine, are making this difficult, no doubt too blinded by their hero-worship to realize the potential danger Redfield poses. Now the Edonian Liberation Army is stirring up trouble, with the UN condemning their actions but doing nothing as per usual. These ELA insurgents are approaching the same level of violence as the war criminals that the Hague had only recently managed to bring to justice, after hiding in plain sight and evading punishment for years. Based on what the intelligence agencies are sending over, the ELA is gearing up to make a large purchase of B.O.W.s.

He sighs and looks out at the gloomy English weather. He doesn’t have high hopes that the weak and disorganized Edonian government will be able subdue the insurgents, especially if they are going to use B.O.W.s. If that were to happen, then he would have no choice but to let Redfield out.

=

_Bennett University - England_

 

“You know, it’s rather unpleasant to be judged for not having a girlfriend by a twenty-year-old who’s never had a date,” Doug says to his nephew, an amused twinkle in his eyes. He packs away his lecture notes as the last few students leave the lecture hall.

“Oh come on Uncle!” Ricky says rather dramatically. As they make their way to his office, they catch up to Sherry, Doug’s new graduate student. She is petite girl with her blond hair cut short. Today, she has on her favorite pink sleeveless jacket-vest with a faded print of an angel and the words “Made in Heaven” on the back. Ricky chivalrously picks up some of the paperwork she is carrying. “What did you think of that lecture?”

“It was really interesting! But I guess I might have fallen asleep if I didn’t appreciate the subject, like a certain someone...”

“You two aren’t letting me off the hook, are you?” Ricky pouts. “Fine. This is why I changed my major to photography.”

“You have a good eye for photos, even if you aren’t interested in actual science,” she winks, “and it’s not like what you do isn’t as important.” She glances at the clock. “It’s almost time for my next class, Dr. Wright. You have an appointment with someone at three. Do you need any help?”

“No, it’s fine,” he says with a wave, “You two get going to your next class.”

As they are about to leave, a tall man with a wary look on his face enters the office. Doug recognizes him almost immediately as the B.S.A.A.’s ace, newly returned from some long mission no doubt. He hasn’t seen Chris in a while, and it’s obvious that something has changed. Despite his height and size, he seems to be retreating into himself, as if trying to become invisible, until Ricky and Sherry are out the door. His eyes are fixed on Sherry’s retreating back.

“Is something wrong, Chris?”

Chris shakes his head and closes the door. “No, just... I haven’t seen that type of jacket in a while. Didn’t think they’d still be in fashion.”

“It’s making a comeback. She said someone who protected her gave it to her, and she’s had it ever since.” He motions for Chris to sit. “Dr. Narcisse says that you need to talk to someone.” He takes a better look at his old friend: a dark turtle-neck despite the warm weather, a lack of eye contact, and a sense of nervous tension radiating off him. At their last meeting, Chris was the picture of strength and authority, but now, he brings to mind the fidgety students who’d approached Doug in the past for advice about sensitive matters after no one else would listen.

“I didn’t realize she meant a microbiologist who specializes in bioterrorism, or that she was talking about you specifically. I thought it was Affini who wanted me to talk to someone.”

“True, he’d probably be very upset if he knew that you were talking to me and that the whole thing is Carrie’s idea, but he won’t find out. Carrie’s a good friend of mine, and thought you’d have an easier time talking with someone familiar who also understands what your job entails.”

Chris looks uncomfortable, eyes flitting between Doug’s shirt pocket and shoulder. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, we can chat about anything you like, or do some catching up. If you just want to complain about a new work assignment and let off some steam, that would be fine too. Either way, it’ll be a refreshing change from what I normally get to talk about in academia.”

Brows scrunched, Chris thinks for a bit before he recounts the circumstances of their first meeting. It was during a bioterrorism incident in the US a few years ago. Mutated animals, most disturbingly, giant spiders, were involved. Accustomed to far more dangerous B.O.W.s, Chris and his team had easily taken them down. Afterwards, the conversation between them flows easily, like old times, though Doug tactfully avoids any potentially painful topics for now. The hour flies by faster than he expects and he has to draw things to a close. “If you’d like, we can set up another time.”

Chris seems more relaxed than before. He schedules for around the same time next week before he pauses at the door, “how much...I mean…”

“I only know that your last mission ended badly.” Chris flinches at that. Something about his friend’s vulnerable expression triggers his protective instincts. He takes out a business card and scribbles his cell phone number on the back, just in case.

“If you need to talk, call me anytime. I’m available.”

“...but you have a teaching schedule.”

“Yes, but not always. I also have a rather gifted grad student. She can fill in for one of my classes if you need to talk or have something interesting to show me. The challenge will do her good.”

Chris accepts the card and makes eye contact for the first time. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

=

_Undisclosed Port City - Balkans_

_Late September - 2010_

 

The mountain air is comfortably cool, nippy with the start of winter. The sleepy port town at the base of the mountain is the closest transportation hub to St. Jovan Academy, said to be the most exclusive preparatory school in all of Europe. The lights from the cities and resorts further along the coast can also be seen in the distance. He spends some time basking in the sensations. He wonders what Chris would do about the events that recently unfolded at the school. The administration has abused its authority, resulting in the death of a student. They didn’t even try to find the body when it disappeared mysteriously, probably believing it to be buried along with all the rest of their crimes.

At least Chris eventually ended up in Wesker’s care after being cast out by his “team.” But there is no escape for the students here. They are trapped until they believe what the headmistress, teachers, and the Family want them to believe, then sent out to prestigious universities. Rinse, repeat.

Time to change some things, though.

Ada had brought him Carla Radames’s research data on the C-virus, a virus created from William’s G-virus and Alexia’s t-Veronica virus. Isn’t it fitting for him to complete this work, when he knows both viruses like the back of his hand? About as fitting as him getting into the hidden facility Umbrella left behind in the Balkans. The place has sat abandoned since Spencer’s death, as if waiting for him to claim it.

This school will be the first testing ground for the C-virus. Others will soon follow. They will suffer for all they have put Magda Mueller through. The B.S.A.A, in turn, will suffer for keeping Chris from him.

He regrets not being able to give his son and Magda for the life they deserve.  Magda was beautiful and caring, though he didn’t appreciate it at the time and lost interest after a brief fling. He recently found out that she died a few years ago from a chronic illness, unable to afford the costly treatments. Prior to her death, mother and son had to work numerous menial jobs to make ends meet, and Jake eventually fell into mercenary work and joined the elite Spiders group. Despite Magda being an alumni of the school, they did nothing in her time of need.

They will pay dearly for that mistake.

This school will become infected and diseased, just as it had let Magda fall to illness. Even a willful and stubborn headmistress would have no choice but to call in help. Being a school for the children of the upper crust, the B.S.A.A. would have to send its best and brightest.

They would have to send his Chris, and Wesker would be waiting.

_Let this country be partitioned. Let this school, a supposed sanctuary for the gifted, be razed along with its cultish students. Let the dead rise, so Chris will come back to me._


	3. Thou hast expressed a wish that cannot be granted...I curse thee with a great curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Piers work to try to find a normal thing with hostility on various sides. Meanwhile, Jake Muller and his group get the possibility of a good job...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I have so many of these chapters ready and I haven't given them to you all! Granted, I also took a break so my wonderful beta Lullite didn't get too overwhelmed.
> 
> Also for some idea - Lazar is basically young!Illya Kuriyakin from Man from UNCLE (not the new one, the David McCallum one) and Marko is the guy from [Life of Boris](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS5tt2z_DFvG7-39J3aE-bQ), only with dark hair and not constantly cooking up stuff for his friends, but getting just as drunk and finding the friend who can make up food.

##### |”Thou hast expressed a wish that can not be granted...I curse thee with a great curse”|

 

_Early November - 2010_

 

“I should put you against some of our new recruits who think they’re all that, and see how they react,” Piers says once he reaches the finish line, eagerly grabbing the bottle of water that Chris offers.

“You’d only do that because we did that to _you_ once,” Hosea joins them, followed shortly by Finn, who looks like he’s rethinking his life choices. Hosea, having paced himself instead of trying to keep up with the other two, is less winded than Piers and Finn, and looks almost proud of the fact.

“Yeah, _once_. He was just as fast then.” Piers chugs down the water, stopping only for air. Chris opens a bottle of sports drink for himself. For some reason, water isn’t hydrating him as well as before. It’s been weird, getting used to what his body can do now, though Jill has helped by sending him suggestions and meal plans. However, he is discomfited by the looks that some people have been sending at not only him, but his team by association.

After being transferred to the B.S.A.A. European branch, he has gone to see Ramirez several times, hoping to spark something in the other man, but nothing came from these visits.  The P30 drug had wrecked Ramirez mentally and nobody knows if he will ever go back to normal. Even Hosea admits that he no longer feels the same and wants to find Wesker Jr. in hopes that doing so would bring him peace. Everyone side steps the uncomfortable fact that finding this man is the last command Wesker issued to Hosea. Chris doesn’t know more details beyond the little Hosea has to go on: a young mercenary from Edonia by the name of Jake Muller.  

Despite everything that transpired, Hosea doesn’t blame Chris and gave testimony that stopped certain parties from using him as a scapegoat. That, along with Chris’s part in throwing Wesker off the plane, was enough to convince the West Africa branch of his innocence. Not that Affini and his supporters would let that stop them from blaming him for whatever plan Wesker cooks up next. Unsurprisingly, the bioterrorist was not found despite an extensive search, meaning that he is at large and will be coming for Chris.

_“Your decision to continue field work will only cause us problems,” Affini said sourly when Chris presented himself for duty after being medically cleared. Affini’s second in command, Gabe Harper, fixed him with a disapproving stare. He was beginning to feel like he made a huge mistake by not going back stateside with Jill, but he had to stay in Europe so that he could find Wesker’s son and be in position to stop whatever Wesker was planning next. With the uprising in Edonia putting the whole region in an uproar, it wouldn’t surprise him if the sick bastard already had a plan in place to profit from the situation. Besides, Affini wasn’t the only one who thought this way about Chris. He couldn’t let himself buckle under the pressure._

_“Then why spend the time and effort on me, sir?”_

_Harper made a face, as if Chris defending himself was a joke. Affini clicked his tongue in annoyance, “I was told that you’re important as a founding member of the B.S.A.A.and for your work before all the ...unpleasantries in Africa.”_

_That’s one way to put it,_ _Chris thought spitefully but made sure to not let it show._

 _“I expect you to obey your superiors’ every order. In situations where that is unclear, you will obey Nivans or your fellow Alpha team members. You are_ not _in charge. You will_ not _be in charge. Am I understood?”_

“Nivans! Little! Macauley!” A familiar voice makes him groan inwardly. Hosea does so audibly but tries to cover it up by pretending to be stretching. Chris turns to face the newest addition to their unit, wondering if Affini made this assignment specifically to mess with him.

Former Master Sergeant Palmer “Flare” Beck wears his light brown hair longer than when they were in the Air Force. His skin is pale despite doing so many outdoor workouts. “We’re supposed to be at the field exercise in an hour. What are you all doing out here?”

Piers checks his watch. “It’s in two hours, not one, and you’re under _my_ command, Beck. You were supposed to be here for drills.”

Beck sneers at Chris. “I did my workout already. I’m not gonna bother trying to team-build with Redfield. Didn’t end well for me the last time.”

Chris sighs. He really doesn’t have time for this, nor does he want to watch the others try to defend him. He sometimes wonders why he even helped Beck back then.

_It’s done. I wasn’t going to leave him behind when I knew he was alive, when I knew I could save him. I saved him, and now I just have to deal with it._

“If we’re due to go to that exercise, let’s head over,” he says in an attempt to be diplomatic. Beck snorts, as if that proves something. “Do we have anything else to work on, Piers?”

Piers shakes his head. Of course Affini would give them someone who not only has a grudge against Chris, but also considers Piers an inexperienced youngster who is unable to command a team. Piers has a good eye and even better instincts, and the two months without Chris to lean on has made him a solid asset for the B.S.A.A.. Finn, their newest recruit, is almost always starstruck by him or Piers, though he doesn’t have much time to fawn over them given the team’s rigorous schedule. On missions, Finn is effective and a great team player. The thoughtful rookie also gathers the dogtags from agents who were infected to prevent them from ending up in limbo on the MIA list, so that the B.S.A.A. can at least give their families closure.

Beck is just stirring up trouble and making it hard for everyone else to trust him. That’s the last thing a team needs. Even back in their old squadron, Beck had friends.

**_He didn’t and you know it. That’s why nobody tried to save him after Clay left him behind. What did you get for saving him anyway, besides getting kicked out for insubordination?_ **

He pushes that thought out of his mind and heads to the showers. He touches one of the scars on his neck. After nearly three months away from Wesker, the marks on his body are gradually fading, but are still visible. He’s not a big fan of tank tops, but it would have been nice to wear one if he had to work out on a hot day. Hell, he’d even worked out shirtless a few times in the past, but walking around with his body exposed is unimaginable now. Thank god it’s cool out.

He showers with extreme efficiency and dresses in a fresh undershirt and shorts before he exits the stall. Wary of anyone’s gaze on him, either real or imagined, he puts a towel around his neck to hide as many of the scars as possible. He doesn’t need to be looked at like he’s damaged goods.

With the exception of Beck, the rest of Alpha team are good. The main issue between him and Beck is their history. Beck hates the constant reminder that he’d made a mistake that nearly cost him his life back when he was a lowly Staff Sergeant and was saved by someone he resented, who had then taken the fall for the whole thing.

Chris keeps his breathing controlled, like he’d practiced. Jill said that the members of his Air Force squadron are all safe. Beck being here, even if he is being an ass, means he is safe too.

He joins the rest of Alpha team outside the simulation area, a sealed-off building with a few dozen B.O.W.s inside, most of them captured t-virus monsters. While B.S.A.A. teams usually destroys all B.O.W.s they encounter, sometimes they would arrive ahead of a planned transaction or bust a company with the monsters still in storage. In these cases, the B.O.W.s would be saved for training exercises. The purpose of the training, at least this far in, is to give a newly assembled team some experience working together before a real mission.

Piers takes the lead, explaining the mission and the lay of the land. The B.O.W.s they will be facing are Hunters and mutated animals, Cerberus dogs and spiders. Finn looks a little uneasy at the mention of the spiders.

Piers announces the team assignments. He, Chris and Merah Biji, a transfer from the East Asian branch that Chris is halfway sure Piers has a massive crush on after she managed to match him in hand-to-hand, will take point. Hosea, Dan “Grif” Gevorg, and Beck will handle the cleanup. Finn, Jules Delacruz, and Havilah “Have” Winter will do the final sweep and provide backup as needed. The exercise should be easy, but the Hunters might make things tricky.

Finn does a great job of giving a rundown on the enemies, after which the three groups move into position. Piers grins excitedly at Chris and Merah as they begin.

Merah is good at what she does. She favors close quarters combat that keeps the Hunters and Cerberus at bay while Chris guns them down from a distance. Piers is a sharpshooter through and through. The moment he’s at high-ground, it’s basically game-over.

They quickly tally up the kills to make sure their section is done. Merah and Piers go to back up Hosea’s group. Chris heads to where Finn is. Delacruz and Winter aren’t new, so Finn’s obvious distress over the radio is setting Chris on-edge. Something’s wrong.

He gets his answer when he finds Finn trapped by a pack of Cerbruses and unable to get help from the other two, who are occupied with a large pack of Hunters. Chris manages to get enough of the dogs off so that Finn can manage the rest on his own, then yells out to draw some of the Hunters away, giving Delacruz and Winter an opening. Afterwards, it’s second nature to guide the three of them into a familiar battle formation. Like clockwork, they are able to methodically kill all the Hunters without further incident.

After the building is cleared of enemies, everyone gathers for the performance evaluation, some looking more winded than the others.

The evaluation should have been straightforward, which is why everyone, even Beck, is shocked to see Chris’s name in red. The hell did he do wrong in there?

“Alpha team,” Harper says, walking up and typing something on his tablet. “Your overall performance was adequate. All but one of you passed the requirements. Nivans, your tactics were flawed  and you rely too much on being the sole sniper. Biji, we don’t need showy acrobatics. You need to work on your weapons flexibility. Knives will only take you so far. Macauley, you shouldn’t be having so much trouble dealing with Cerberus at this stage of training. Delacruz and Winters, you’re supposed to back up your teammate. Little, Beck, and Gevorg, good work. Redfield, a word.” The tone brokers no argument.

_Whatever I did wrong, I’ll find out. I don’t need to make a scene._

“Sir, whatever you’re going to say, you’d better say to all of us.” Chris closes his eyes, wishing that Piers would stop, but the younger man continues on, “a lot of us made mistakes, but we got in the green. So, respectfully sir, what is your real beef with Chris?”

“The Hunters were all in one section, not spread out,” Winters also speaks up. Chris silently pleads for them to let this go, hoping to get this over with before it escalates further, but they’re all watching Affini’s second like hawks, all demanding answers. Harper looks at them, then back to Chris.

“You were told to not be the leader.”

Harper says nothing else for a long moment, riling up the rest of Alpha team, before he finally sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “Nivans is the team leader, and he didn’t give you an order to do more than observe the other team. You disobeyed your orders and--”

“So did the others,” Piers says, stepping up next to Chris.

“Piers…” Chris tries to stop this, but the levee breaks the second he opens his mouth.

“No, this is bullshit,” the normally sedate Piers shouts, posturing aggressively at Harper, “You either give all of us red since none of us followed every order, or you give him a green and stop trying to sabotage us!”

Chris’s name unexpectedly turns green with a beep. Enrique Affini steps into the briefing room, watching them with an unreadable expression.

“Harper, a word.”

A deep silence follows. Harper’s stance is rigid. Affini glances at the performance results, then back to Alpha team. He leaves the changed green symbols as-is and walks out of the room with Harper, leaving the group to wonder what that was all about.

=

Having dismissed the rest of Alpha team, Piers follows after Affini and Harper with the intention of calling them out on their unfair treatment of Chris. His Captain has been through a lot. Even though he’s been back for three months, he is still not the same man who recruited Piers... Being paired with an antagonistic team member and singled out for contrived reasons won’t help his recovery. He is tempted to demand a transfer for his team, if it means not having to deal with Affini’s machinations.

“What were you thinking?” He pauses at Affini’s angry voice, holding back his desire to rip Harper a new one. The two may reveal something important, now that they think they are out of earshot. He stays out of sight and bides his time like the sniper he’s trained to be.

“Sir, we can’t--”

“We have no choice in the matter,” Affini sounds on-edge. “Redfield is still one of the best, and with Valentine being promoted, he’s the only one with the years of experience we need who will still be active in the field. He’s also has many others who view him in a good light. Do you think that we can simply, what? Shame him into leaving?”

“Then what do you propose we do, sir?” Harper pleads, as if getting Chris out of Alpha team and the B.S.A.A. is the solution to all their problems. “He can’t be allowed to roam around people he can potentially infect. He needs to be kept under supervision in a facility until we need him. Failing him and getting him out of Alpha team is the best choice!”

The ruthlessness of the man’s tone nearly makes Piers give up his location.

“Watch your tone, Harper. I may have issues with Redfield, but he has yet to go running back to the _terrorist_ he allied himself with during his two-month absence.”

Where the hell did Harper _or_ Affini get off, thinking Chris had a choice? If they say anything about Hosea, Piers might do something stupid.

“Redfield is still taking command from Nivans, sir.”

“Nivans allows it. It’s on him, not Redfield. If the runt wants to have the ticking timebombs on his team, that’s fine. So long as Bravo, Charlie, and the others can back them up. I’ve already given them instructions on how to handle Redfield if things were to get out of hand.”

The ominous news chills him to the bone. If Affini has spoken to the other teams about how to “handle” Chris, could he have planted someone in Alpha team as well? If only he could figure out who. Affini is many things, but obvious isn’t one of them. Despite Beck’s undisguised antagonism towards Chris, he probably isn’t on the team for this purpose.

“I understand your anger, Harper, but stop antagonizing Redfield and Alpha team. I have it covered.”

Piers forces himself to walk away. _The fuck you do_. _I don’t care what you both think, Chris isn’t a threat to anyone, and we’ll prove it. You two can go rot in Hell._

=

_Undisclosed Location - Eastern Europe - Edonia_

_Mid November, 2010_

 

Jake tosses an apple up and down, catching it and considering his angle of attack. It’s been a while since he’s been back to Edonia, though probably not long enough for some of his fellow countrymen. He doesn’t even feel any kinship to this place. He’s too smart to fall for the usual homeland patriotic bullshit that started up when he was younger, after the Soviets pulled out support and the in-fighting turned nasty. Mercenary work pays, and pays well. Ever since he came home with his paycheck to get Mom treatment for her illness, only to find that she had already died, mercenary work is all he has known.

“Nothing again?” Marko walks over with a bottle in his hand. “We’re finally back home, ready to start _liberating_ everything. It’s not our fault that they can’t afford our rates.”

His friend takes a swig of the drink and offers it to him with a smirk, the smell of slivo strong even at a distance. He has known Marko ever since he began mercenary work a few years ago. The man has developed a taste for strong liquors very early on. Jake shakes his head in disbelief before taking a drink as well. Slivo isn’t exactly expensive, but whoever made this batch is _good_. This is some exportable stuff.

“It’s not much of a cause,” he hands the bottle back, “but I’m sure they have plenty of others who will work for cheaper than we do. Besides, rumor is they managed to get enough funds for some super-soldiers or somethin’. Probably don’t have enough left to pay for our crew.”

Rumor has it that they are not hyped-up soldiers, but B.O.W.s. Mercenaries are paid to do a lot of things, but it’s best to stay clear of any jobs involving B.O.W.s because there is no telling if you’ll end up turned into one too. If that happens, there would be no going home with a paycheck.

There are some shady fuckers who don’t tell you that their backup plan is to turn you into B.O.W.s if things go south. He has a sneaking suspicion that the Edonian Liberation Army is just the type. He’s not the only one who thinks so. The reason why Marko would even _think_ of drinking slivo prior to a business meeting is that they’ll be talking about some very shady and underhanded jobs. Fortunately, the ELA contact never showed up to their meeting. They’d already heard through the grapevine that the target would have been a hospital used by the government forces.

It surprises no one that the ELA picked such a target. Everyone’s heard of the leaders of the ELA. Years ago, they attempted a failed coup and had to go underground. A few got lucky and learned tactics from the Bosnian and Kosovo mess in the early 90s. All of them are people he’d gladly throw the worst insults at in all the languages he knows.

“Liberation” is not their goal. Power is. The ELA people believe they have it, or are within close reach of it.

Edonia was not exactly set up for success after the Soviets left, and tensions have finally boiled over in recent months. At least the political situation has taken longer to implode than half the other countries around them, but the downside?

“Yeah, well, this beats the last job, because at least we’re home, even if there are bullets flying,” Lazar, another mercenary that Jake has known for a few years, catches up. The older man takes the bottle of slivo from Marko and drains it, ignoring Marko’s half-hearted protest. “Though last I heard, the ELA got the funds for a few more tanks. That should distract the Edonian Army and their UN friends from coming after us when we make our move.”

Jake wonders, but doesn’t argue. “So, we got anything lined up, or are you just going to drink everything Marko manages to get us?”

Lazar snorts before motioning for him and Marko to follow. They head over to where the others are chatting over a map of the fancy school near the Edonian coastline. Mom had spoken of the school sometimes, and not fondly. With everyone present, they start talking business.

“Jake, you know about St. Jovan Academy, right?”

“I know it used to belong to the State. Not exactly the Red Room, but it did push out a lot of good musicians. Got bought by some rich guy and turned into a fancy private school five seconds after Western influence was allowed in.” He glances back at Aca expectantly.

“Yeah that’s right. Lots of rich kids there, and you can only get in by special invite. They have armed guards all over the place, and until graduation the kids are essentially cut off from the outside world. The original school is in Asia and is run by the founder’s eldest son. The one here is run by one of his daughters, Gracia.” Jake quietly files away the information. He is here to do his job and get paid. He’s not here to save his homeland, as much as it needs help. He’s not here to make friends. His only purpose here is to get enough money to live his life.

At the same time, he doesn’t like where this is going.

“Please tell me your grand idea doesn’t involve terrorizing a bunch of rich kids,” he mutters. Yes, mercenaries have a notorious reputation, a well-deserved one too, but he and his group do their best to be… honorable. It also helps that they’re smart and understand the dangers of being mercenaries. They only take jobs that won’t have the UN or some government hounding their asses. Being a mercenary means you aren’t going to be treated like an enemy combatant if you’re captured. The Geneva Conventions don’t apply to those who participate in war for profit and personal gain.   

“Of course not,” Marko sounds vexed, as if offended that Jake assumed him capable of such as thing. “The rich guys up at the school are getting antsy with how things are going. And I also found about another way we can earn some money too.

“ _Jebe su, Marko_ ,” Jake huffs, equally annoyed. “You and your schemes.”

“This one will pan out,” Aca says, siding with Marko. “The ELA hasn’t targeted the school yet, we think, because they don’t want to piss off that Russian oligarch sending them money. The Russians have had some trouble with international law lately, but they still have power and want to keep the school the same. But everyone with half a brain knows the ELA is going after that school for ransom the second they don’t need the Russians anymore. That works out in our favor. A school with lots of cash to spare that needs a few good men to protect its cute little dollar-sign students and nice, posh port town.”

Marko looks quite pleased with himself.

“And your second job?” With Marko, there is always a second job.

“Simple… I got the booze from a guy workin’ over here in the resorts. Great chef, but he’s in debt.”

Jake rolls his eyes. This is not the first time that Marko has accepted food as payment.

“Look, he just needs us to look for his daughter. She went radio-silent about two months ago. No letters, nothing. School’s stricter than a prison. He hasn’t been able to get anything from the school admin.”

“So?” Lazar asks, crossing his arms.

“She goes to St. Jovan Academy, after her dad moved here. He’s still paying for her tuition and stuff when he’s sure something shady happened to her.”

Jake can see where this is going, and he can see the dollar signs as well. A school in need of protection, a dad who needs to find his daughter, and a school that may be hiding a dirty secret that should sell very well.

He pats Marko’s shoulder. “Let’s talk to this guy and find out more about his daughter. What’s her name?”

“Nina or Nanan or something. Have to check my notes.”

Jake smiles and nods with the others. Coming home is turning out to be just the payday he needs.


	4. "What has moved the seat of her intellect? What has stirred the seat of her emotion?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesker and Jake find themselves near the school of St. Jovan for other reasons, and cross paths briefly. Meanwhile, Chris deals with nightmares and hostile work environments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that I totally wasn't finished with months ago! no...not at all...
> 
> I'm gonna continue to thank Lullite because she asks all the right questions and at times I end up having to remember why I wrote what I did, and need that.

##### |”What has moved the seat of her intellect? What has stirred the seat of her emotion?”|

_Late November, 2010_

 

There is more activity than usual in the port today. Ever since arriving here a few weeks ago, Wesker has carefully played the part of the tourist who is staying for the winter. For this very purpose, he has rented a cottage for the season and visited the local shops and restaurants occasionally. The locals pay him no mind. The remaining time has been spent perfecting the C-virus at the abandoned Umbrella research facility located in a nearby mountain range. It is quite a convenience that the company was so fond of building secret facilities all over the world.

There have been other outsiders at the town, tourists mostly, though they stick to themselves. This batch of new arrivals are quite different. Their pathetic attempts to blend in aside, their faces are too battle-hardened for them to be anything else but mercenaries.  

Thanks to his self-taught crash course in Serbian in preparation for his plans here, he overhears enough of the local gossip to confirm that they are from the Spiders mercenary group. However, it is unclear why they’re here. They are not working for the ELA yet, even though many of them are from Edonia and young enough to feel some patriotism.

Tracking down his son has been difficult, given how often the Spiders travel overseas for jobs. Now, his plans at the school means he hasn’t been able to devote as much time to the search as he would like.

Getting in contact with the Spiders and “hiring” his son while being secretive about his motives is proving to be more challenging than expected. They are loyal to the core. Madga’s final years were quiet ones, with barely any information on her or Jake. It’s probably why Jake has fallen under the radar until the ELA tried to use his story to drum up patriotic anger, claiming that the people of their country had been exploited by the evil American, leaving behind only an orphaned child of violence.

If he still had the P30 candidates, he would have tracked down his son by now, but both have been taken back by the B.S.A.A., same as his Chris.

He once more grips the hilt of the S.T.A.R.S. blade that Jill left behind, hidden in his jacket. Three months have passed - _three_ \- since he had Chris. Despite that, he has been quite productive in the interim. The C-virus is complete and is currently being trialed in its first host. It will be ready to be tested in combat soon. For this end, the girl at the school has been dutifully following his instructions regarding the C-virus with a precision he did not expect from someone her age. In turn, he has given her whatever she needs. If she is still alive at the end of this, maybe he’ll give her a dose of the Prototype and see if she is worthy enough to survive it. Perhaps she’ll find herself resurrected and renewed, a Phoenix in his new world.

Her grief would burn the old structures, her anger destroy the system that failed her, her fury melt the cage she is in. She won’t be starting big like Umbrella did, but even a small spark can be stoked into a wildfire, enough for her to get what she wants and, if things turn out as planned, enough to get him who he wants.

_Chris…_

If Jill hadn’t sneaked in that injection of PG67A/W, he could have easily dispatched her and her little friend on the plane. But due to being overdosed on Excella’s concoction, his body was weakened and the gunshot and knife wounds were slow to heal. With his senses going haywire, the cold seawater he fell into had felt like molten lava. By the time he recovered, the B.S.A.A.were starting to swarm the place like locusts. Retrieving Chris at that point was next to impossible. His only option was retreat, all the while cursing Excella’s concoction. Being bowled out by what was essentially a drug-induced flu was a low point for him, one he intends to pay Jill back for in spades.

One of the mercenaries lounging near the docks glowers at the passerby from underneath his cap. Seeing the aloof young man reminds him of how he was when Magda first approached him, and was able to make him open up. He once more wishes that he had at least kept track of her after she left, instead of simply going from Umbrella to a new master.

A darker-skinned mercenary staggers by almost theatrically, passing over a bottle of the local brew to his blond companion nearby and says in Serbian, “So, I heard a thing.”

“You hear lot of things,” the man with sand-colored hair says under his breath before chugging down the alcohol like it’s water. Impressive, given that the local alcohol is more like all-purpose cleaner than actual alcohol.

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty serious. Ever heard of Umbrella Corp?” Interest piqued, Wesker discreetly follows the trio from a distance as they walk down one of the narrow side streets.

“I have,” the alcoholic discards the empty bottle and says something else. Wesker is only able to understand snippets, like “zombies and those fucked-up dogs,” when the man slows down to look for the right words.

“Anyway, I heard a new one is backing the ELA. _Neo_ -Umbrella.”

“You’re shitting me,” the one in the cap says as they turn the corner. Wesker stops following them. Their conversation remains perfectly audible due to his enhanced hearing, though by this point they are talking too fast for him to understand. Losing interest, he heads toward the edge of town in the direction of his cottage. There’s only one person who would be so sure of herself that she’d take on Umbrella’s tainted name and back an insurgency.

_Alex, what are you doing?_

Since leaving Umbrella, he has not kept in touch with his sister. Even when he played the part of the loyal underling, they were nowhere near as obsessed with each other as the Ashfords, though he hears she kept the painting Spencer commissioned of them. Something deeper must be going on for Alex to even think of using Neo-Umbrella as a name… Or he could be giving her too much credit. She always did love style over substance.

He is about to leave town when he suddenly remembers that mercenary with the hat has red hair. He saw it when the young man adjusted his hat, but had been too distracted to recognize the significance of it.

The same color as Magda’s hair…

_It’s Jake. That’s Magda’s son._

_My son is here._

He rushes back to where he last saw the three mercenaries, but they’ve already disappeared into the winding back alleys of the old town.

=

“Who was that creeper?” Marko says as they sit down at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Lazar orders a few platters of food and comes back to the table.

“Whoever it is, I don’t like it.” Jake replies, debating on whether he should find and confront the stalker. The man looks like another tourist with too much time and money, but something about him makes Jake uncomfortable.

“He gives me the creeps,” Lazar says. Jake snorts, tucking into his bread and stew. “You felt it too. I know you did.”

“Yeah well, he was probably being nosy, like all the tourists here. He just sucks at hiding that’s all.”

“Ok fine, so what do you all want to do about him?”

Before Jake can answer, his pager goes off. He reads the page and grins at Marko and Lazar. “I want to go get paid. Looks like we’re a go for protecting the school.”

They all laugh and start eating with even greater gusto, the tourist forgotten. After polishing off their lunch, the trio head towards the pier. Easy day, easy money, and as soon as they find Nanan, they’ll have everything they need. At the very least, it’ll be enough to buy them a few months of relaxation and some new equipment. He grabs an apple from a nearby stall, leaving some change on the counter. Everything seems to be smooth sailing.

=

_Early December 2010_

 

_He’s stuck in the pillory again, wrists and head trapped but with enough room for him to breathe. Panting, he tries to free his head from the contraption so he can at least see where Wesker is. A cold hand touches his flank, another moving slowly down his spine. Trying to stop the hands from going any further, he kicks and thrashes, but is unable to land a good hit from the the kneeling position he’s in._

_“Let your captain take care of you.”_

_The words die in his throat when one of the hands grips his cock, fingers dexterously moving along its length. He can’t see what’s going on, only feel the hand slowly jacking him off, taking its time to get him hard and full. His traitorous body responds eagerly to the ministrations. The other hand traces his pectorals and rubs his nipples until they’re erect too. He has to get away…_

**_But it feels so good._ ** **You should give in.**

NO! No, no no, I don’t want this, I don’t!

 _Pressure slowly builds as the hands begin to move along his torso again. The bed creaks when a body drapes heavily over him, keeping him trapped. His skin crawls at the feel of the leather pants and the promise of what’s coming next. Lips gently trail kisses along his scarred shoulders and down his back. A hand follows, then another, intimately caressing every inch of skin. It’s hard to believe how good this feels, how-- **Like that, more, please...**_ **aren’t you the little bitch again, taking--** No! I don’t want this! I don’t want _him!_ Stop!

_He can only sob when an erection is pressed firmly against his ass, ready to use him again._

_“Don’t you miss me?”_

He wakes with a start, nearly falling out of bed as he scrambles to turn off the alarm on his phone. Utterly disgusted with himself, he ignores his hard-on and doesn’t even try to touch it. Dr. Narcisse, the psychiatrist the B.S.A.A. is making him see, is well aware of the nightmares, but he recently lowered his guard around her enough to let slip more than he wanted about the content and after effects of these nightmares. After that, it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Probably under the impression that his problem was a temporary effect of trauma or brainwashing, she had suggested that he test out whether his body still responded to things other than Wesker. Even though he knew better, he had moronically followed the advice and tried to see if he could get off to anything else.

Nothing worked, as he already suspected, and he felt sick with shame afterwards for even experimenting.

He digs the heels of his hands into his eyes, wishing he hasn’t been changed by the virus into Wesker’s overeager plaything. It would be nice to at least have the option of being with someone else, but no. It seems like the only thing that can get him off now is his arch enemy.

_No. This can’t be happening._

_It has to be wrong._

He can’t dwell on this. Maybe this physical side effect of being infected with Wesker’s virus will go away eventually... He has to focus on the job for now and not let this get to him.

His team is on an extended mission to search for the B.O.W.s that the ELA supposedly will be purchasing. So far, they haven’t found any, but they have Daybreak and other vaccines on hand just in case the ELA tries to spread a virus. The extended lull is giving them too much down time and more opportunities for Beck to rile things up.  

The silence in his room makes his gut twist in worry. Where is his team? Are they safe? He has to reassure himself that they are probably just relaxing somewhere close by, or else he would have heard by now. He checks his phone to make sure there hasn’t been any calls or messages while he was sleeping. There is nothing amiss, which soothes him for the moment.

He gets up and heads to the showers as quickly as possible, hoping to deal with the problem before anyone finds out. He quickly gets in a shower stall, grateful for the curtains and privacy. Pausing for a long moment, he stares awkwardly at his tented boxers. He can’t go out in public like this...

He turns on the shower and steps in, hissing when the freezing water hits him. He stands there until his body is numb and trembling violently from the cold, but the problem hasn’t gone down. No, apparently that just requires--

_Stop. I don’t need him. I can handle this without thinking about him._

**_And if not? Pine for him for the rest of your days._ ** **Oh my captain and his huge--**

Chris grips himself almost painfully, biting back a frustrated moan as he tries to think of something else. He tries to jack off to the thought of Jill or someone else he’d been with in the past, but has to stop when he begins to feel physically ill for using them like this. He then tries to do it while thinking about a nameless person he saw on a magazine, or even while thinking of nothing, but these efforts are in vain. As he shivers in the shower stall, cold and miserable, the temptation lingers in the back of his mind.

_No no no._

**_Who’s to know?_ **

_NO._

**You always spread for your captain.**

“FUCK!” he yells and slams his palms against the wall. He can’t wait here all day…

He shuts his eyes in frustration, which is a mistake. The second he does, his train of thought jumps to the memory of the one time he’d allowed himself to think of Wesker. That time, he had gotten off almost immediately, without having to wait hours for his body’s responses to die down… The mere memory of the event makes his brain latch onto Wesker like Pavlov’s dog. He suddenly can’t stop thinking about the hold that he could never escape, how much his body loved every touch, and Wesker’s mouth wrapping around--

He barely manages to hold in a groan as he comes. Ashamed by what he resorted to doing, he frantically washes himself and gets dressed.

He paces the grounds aimlessly until the urge to check on his team becomes overwhelming again. It doesn’t take him long to find Piers lounging in a large office. The young man perks up at the sight of him, which cheers him up a little.

“We’re still waiting for Echo team to be debriefed. I figured you could use a rest after the mission.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“Jules and Have are out resting too. Finn is up. Grif’s sulking somewhere because...well, Merah went to this restaurant she heard about and said she’d bring us some steak and fries.”

Chris feels a smile tugging at his lips at how Piers blushes at the mention of Merah, or maybe it’s the food. Either way, the young man must have a crush on her at least. Hosea comes in from another room, obviously having just overheard the conversation about Merah. Piers has been spending more and more of their downtime complimenting her and basically making heart-eyes at her. Whenever the two are left to their own devices, they are usually bonding over supersized portions of food in a way that’s almost scary. Chris is about to say something, but Hosea beats him to the chase and goes straight for the threats against Piers’ favorite food.

“If you don’t ask her out, I swear on all that is holy, Piers, you’ll never enjoy steak again. It will all be overcooked or mooing.”

Piers sputters out some new excuse for why he isn’t asking Merah out. Hosea is ribbing Piers for his excuses as badly as Chris had been ribbed about Jill back when they were in S.T.A.R.S.. He did ask her out eventually, so he still has that over Piers and his dancing around the issue.

Their team has already been debriefed after a successful mission confiscating a shipment of B.O.W.s with Echo team. Now it’s just down time, waiting to see if anything else would come of their last mission. Jules and Have arrive and give Piers a casual salute. The younger man waves back haphazardly, attention more on trying to argue with Hosea. While Piers is failing to defend himself, Finn and Grif come into the office, with Beck close behind.

“It’s kinda getting distracting, sir,” Finn says in his most earnest voice, almost succeeding in keeping a straight face. Piers looks back at their youngest teammate with an exaggerated expression of horror and betrayal.

Grif pats Finn hard on the back with a beefy arm, nearly knocking him over. “If you don’t ask her out, the kid here will probably do it for you!”

Finn turns beet red and immediately tries to convince everyone that he doesn’t have a crush on _her,_ even though she is a great coworker. It focuses everyone’s attention on him instead. Chris shakes his head. He has no idea who Finn has a crush on, and honestly he’s hoping Merah comes back soon. He’s about ready to put an end to the teasing, as easy-going as it is, considering that both Piers and Finn look almost miserable from it.

“Ooooh...then who _do_ we have a crush on?” Grif asks.

Jules and Have join in the fray and start telling Grif to stop picking on Finn.

Beck approaches with look of disgust on his face. “Please,” he waves between Finn and Chris, “he probably spreads ‘em on command for--”

“Don’t even think of finishing that fucking sentence,” Chris steps into Beck’s personal space. Despite how softly he spoke, silence suddenly descends over the room. Beck turns to face him with a dangerous, knowing smirk. He knows it from before. It’s the same self-assured smirk that had landed Beck in hot water in the Air Force. Finn’s red face has paled, while Piers is watching them apprehensively. Despite all this, Beck’s sneering, self-satisfied face remains the focus of his attention.

“Truth cuts deep, Redfield? Probably not as deep as his tight--”

With breakneck speed, he shoves Beck hard against the filing cabinets before he fully registers his body moving. The others are frozen for a moment, then rush forward to try to stop him. The self-satisfied look is gone from Beck’s face, replaced by pure shock. He has to force himself to let Beck go before things escalate any further. Smashing the bastard’s face in won’t be worth it. He backs away, pulse thundering in his ears and his breathing shallow.

“Believe and say whatever the fuck you want about me, but if you say anything like that about anyone else on the team, I’m not going to let it slide!”

He storms out, not wanting to see how the others will react. He can only guess how he looks. His eyes probably turned red again, like-- _Stop. Stop. Stop **Why not kill him? Kill him like**_ **that bastard who helped rape you. You shoved a hand up his ass. Beck’s is--**

“Captain Redfield.”

When Piers is pissed, he’s at least got authority in his voice. Chris stops himself from hitting the wall, unable to meet the younger man’s eyes.

“You can’t let Beck get under your skin like that, sir.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to let him talk about someone like that. Especially not… what he said.” He shakes his head. “I can’t.”

Piers’s stance is one of barely restrained anger. Chris doesn’t often sees him like this, and he hates to be the cause of it. He failed. He couldn’t control himself and attacked another teammate. Now Affini has a legitimate reason to shelf him.

“Come on. We have to do this… formally.”

Leaving Piers with Jill may have been both a good and a bad thing, because he’s only ever heard Jill sound so done with formal proceedings. He sighs and follows Piers to the office, where the witnesses to the incident are being questioned by Echo’s leader, Mikheil Licheli. The tall, imposing man is from nearby Georgia, and he’s been known to take no shit. During their last operation with him, he had put an immediate stop to Beck’s antics. When it’s Chris’s turn to be questioned, he gives the bare minimum details. He’s not sure how much Mikheil knows about his two months AWOL, and the fewer people who know about Clay, the better.

“So, let me get it straight,” Mikheil’s heavily accented English makes him sound even more severe, “You are all joking about things, mostly men-women things, and then Beck says that Finn is whore.”

“I didn’t--” “You _said_ \--” “You all but said he _is_ \--”

“QUIET!” Piers barks out.

“You say he is whore, and you are surprised someone is angry at this?”

Beck should have kept his mouth shut, but instead he says, “I’m more concerned about the hypocrite who couldn’t take a joke and tried to throw me through the filing cabinets.”

Silence descends again. Chris stops himself from saying anything else, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. Finn doesn’t need this, and neither does the rest of his team. He doesn’t get what crawled up Beck’s ass recently, when previously he at least left everyone else alone.

“I take him to my team,” Mikheil says to everyone’s shock.  

“Thank you for the offer, sir,” Piers says, “but Beck isn’t set up for espionage.” Before Beck could protest, both Mikheil and Piers’s phones beep loudly. Mikheil looks at the message and curses in Georgian. Piers tells the Echo team leader to go on first, then turns back to the group, zeroing in on Beck. “I don’t care what the hell you _think_ , but if you pull this again or say anything like that about a fellow team member, I’m going to throw you out of the B.S.A.A. myself. This isn’t about your feelings or your history with the Captain. This isn’t about whatever you _think_ is funny. You crossed the line with that joke. Apologize.”

Chris wonders if Beck is even be capable of it. The man in question looks skyward, as if trying not to roll his eyes, before mumbling a weak “I apologize.”

Piers’ eye twitches. “Not good enough. Either play nice or get out. This is your final warning.” Piers turns his attention to Chris. “Next time talk it out. I don’t appreciate having to pull you off someone because you decided to give them a beatdown.” Finn looks ready to protest, but is quieted by a shake of Chris’s head. “BOTH of you, either work this out or be benched. I’m not going to have this up there during a mission. GOT IT?”

“Yes sir,” Chris says.

Beck makes a noncommittal sound as Piers departs. Chris looks at Beck again, ignoring how the others are subtly moving into a ready stance.  

“Well, Redfield? We gonna play nice for your little--”

“Don’t finish that sentence if you know what’s good for you.”

He is _done_. Whatever called Mikheil and Piers away is serious. Beck has been getting bolder with the insults ever since that field exercise, when Chris nearly didn’t pass. Now he’s pulling this in the middle of a mission?

But that is how Beck got his nickname. When he flared hot, he generated endless fires for other people to extinguish until he’s thrown out. They don’t need this. Not back when Chris had to pull his ass out of trouble, and certainly not now.

He straightens himself to his full height, a good two inches taller than Beck, who has the gall to look to Finn and Grif for help. Jules and Have are behind Chris, watchful for any signs of escalation.

“Don’t fuck with Piers. Don’t fuck with Finn. Don’t fuck with _anyone._ If you can’t play nice, then transfer to another team. I’m not pulling your ass out of the fire again.”

He storms out of the room and wanders outside the building again. There is suddenly an odd tingling along his spine that makes the hair at the back of his neck stand on end, like someone is watching him. Perturbed, he rushes back and nearly runs into Merah as she’s about to enter the building.

“Captain?” Merah adjusts the numerous bags of food she’s holding. “Sorry, it took a bit to get everything. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Beck and I had a disagreement that got...heated.” Her eyebrows tilt inquisitively. “Never mind. I need to get some air. Can you tell Piers or someone else besides Beck to call me if anything comes up?”

She nods, still silent, as he leaves. He needs a cigarette. Even though he hasn’t indulged in that bad habit since his S.T.A.R.S. days, maybe he’ll have one now just to spite the man who put a stop to it.

=

_Bennett University_

_Wednesday, December 15, 2010_

 

“Dr. Wright!” Sherry gasps as he pushes past her, managing to hold onto the few loose pieces of papers before they get away. “What’s wrong? We need to get everything done for the end of--”

“Sherry,” Doug puts two hands on her shoulder. “I’ve arranged for someone else to take care of that. I need you to come with me.”

“W-what?”

“I just...” he motions for her to come back into the office and takes the paperwork from her before handing over a handwritten letter. “Read this.”

Her eyes go wide as she reads. “This is...”

“Sherry. I can’t force you to come with me, but--”

“When are we leaving?”


	5. ”Desist, O Lady, do not destroy it. I will go and announce thy name to my queen...”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherry and Professor Wright head to the school, where she meets Jake and the other mercenaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the start of the Resident Evil Manga, The Marhawa Desire (aka a better Resident Evil Game and it's a manga).
> 
> ...I might hate Resident Evil 6 story with an unholy passion.
> 
> Except for Jake, Jake and Sherry are cute together and can and forever be canon as having run off to have genetically-superior children together and fight all evils who try to use their father's research to create chaos or something. 
> 
> Also as Lullite, my wonderful awesome beta pointed out, Jake kinda gets shafted in RE6 because it starts around Christmas. And who am I to take that away?

##### |”Desist, O Lady, do not destroy it. I will go and announce thy name to my queen...”|

_Sunday, December 19, 2010_

 

“I know you said it was a long drive, but this ridiculous!”

Sherry shifts in her seat, a heavy white parka over her usual outfit. They are riding down the road to the port town that, as far as she knows, is named “Black Sea Port” in Serbian. A guidebook to the surrounding area says it is the closest town to the school they are heading to.  

The drive to the town is long. It is an isolated place that unsurprisingly has no airport. With the ELA insurgents in the country, they had to get snuck in by the Spiders, an Edonian mercenary group that is not working for the ELA, at least not yet.

“What, got to pee already?” asks Jake, a redhead with a severe but handsome face, even with the scar on his left cheek. He speaks perfect English and is acting as their translator. The other mercenary, Marko, mutters something chidingly to Jake in Serbian. The two of them look too young to be mercenaries, especially Marko, with his dark curls and caramel skin.

Dr. Wright pinches the bridge of his nose in a long-suffering fashion.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m worried about seeing Gracia. Honestly, when I last saw her… but that’s in the past. I’m also hoping we won’t have to use my failsafe.”

“Ricky will take his job seriously.”

Ricky wasn’t happy about being left behind, but begrudgingly stayed put after his uncle explained the situation and tasked him with alerting Chris Redfield from the B.S.A.A. if he doesn’t hear back from them in more than three days.

Despite its almost backwater location, the rugged coastline and baroque architecture of the port town are stunning. A few parts look vaguely tourist-trappy and full of people offering trips to the snow-capped slopes nearby. The letter that the headmistress, Mother Gracia, sent Dr. Wright was light on the details, but said enough to make Sherry apprehensive. Could this be another t-virus outbreak? But the infected person’s bite didn’t transmit the virus. The victims merely died from their injuries. This can theoretically happen with the t-virus if the injuries kills the person before the virus takes hold, but it’s nearly unheard of.

Near the edge of town, they get out to stretch their legs and pick up a sandy-haired man who announces that he is there to direct them up the mountain to the school. He smiles charmingly and holds out his hand to her. “Greetings,” he says in accented English, “I’m Lazar. I hope my companions weren’t too...boorish.”

“Sherry Birkin.” She takes his offered hand. “They’re fine. I’m surprised the school doesn’t have a bus or something for the kids to come into town with.”

Lazar’s handshake with Dr. Wright doesn’t have the same enthusiasm, and if she’s not mistaken, Jake looks almost peeved at the blond’s attempts to impress her. She ignores it for the moment. “I didn’t know they needed to hire more security either.”

“With the way things are, dear Miss Birkin, things are very dangerous,” Lazar says, not quite answering her question. They get back into the car with Lazar, who spends the next hour showing off his knowledge of the school. The school takes up a good portion of an area farther up the mountain. The administration has recently hired the mercenaries for additional protection, in case the ELA tries anything. Most of the mercenaries are stationed around the port town, a strategic chokepoint that contains the only road leading to the mountains. Only Lazar, Marko, and Jake will be staying at the school to provide assistance to Dr. Wright.

She does her best to keep an open mind, though remains wary. There is a foreboding feeling to these peaceful and snow-capped mountains. The conversation dies down and she becomes lost in thought.

“Something wrong?” Jake asks, making her nearly jump out of her seat.

“No, just…” she lets out a breath, seeing it turn to mist before her. For some reason, it reminds her of the year right before the end of her normal suburban existence.

_“It’s snowing already, Mr. Wesker.”_

_The tall man sat down next to her on the steps of her school. “It is.” His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, the sensitive blue eyes hidden behind sunglasses. “We should go home, get you warmed up. I heard cocoa is appropriate.”_

_“You’re weird, but…” She looked down at her mittens. He sighed._

_“They’re still working. The school called me.”_

_“...Oh.”_

_“Sherry… I’m sorry.” His smile was forlorn. “Am I supposed to say it’s for the greater good? That one day, you will understand? I’m sure there are other things I can tell you too.”_

_She slowly shook her head and looked at his fancy black car. “I wish they could come pick me up more often.”_

_“They do as well. I’ve known your father a long time. When you were born, he was overjoyed and so focused on you I’m amazed he even came to work.” She grinned at that, wondering briefly if it’s true._

_“Then…”_

_“What changed?” He finished her sentence for her. She nodded, staring at her sneakers but glanced up at him when he remained silent. It’s hard to tell with the sunglasses, but he appeared looking up at the gray sky. His sunglasses were peppered with white before they melted into water droplets._

_“Before he had you, your father was focused on his work. He met your mother through the company, which only amplified both of their enthusiasm for research. Finding a balance is hard for him. Your father works for men who want their agenda to be prioritized, and they have …unsavory ways of ensuring that. Before you, Will only wanted the thrill of discovery. You are the embodiment that to him, which makes you a threat to his employer.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sherry...if your parents ever tell you not to trust someone, to run and hide, then listen to them. Don’t listen to anyone else. Not even me.”_

The outbreak changed that, of course. She decided to trust Claire and Leon, and they saved her. When she was older, she learned that the nice man who used to pick her up and babysit her was a dangerous criminal and bioterrorist. Learning his real identity has made her question her memories of him. He was most likely lying to her the entire time.  

“Sherry?” Dr. Wright’s voice interrupts her trip down memory lane.

“I’m okay. Just thinking.”

“Do you want to ride shotgun?” Jake offers.

Marko looks back from his roomy seat in passenger side, “I can sit bitch.”

Lazar says something in Serbian that sounds vulgar, and gets a rude hand gesture from Marko in return. Dr. Wright shakes his head and says something in flawless Serbian. Lazar and Marko fall silent. Jake starts laughing.

“You can ride up front if you want to,” Wright tells her softly with a pat on the shoulder, “I don’t mind these young peacocks.”

“Peacocks!” Lazar and Mark sound appalled. Jake laughs again. He looks far more handsome when he’s easygoing.

“I’m fine, but thank you. I was just getting a little worried, but hopefully things will turn out fine.”

=

“Anything else we should know?” Marko asks with a surprising level of nonchalance, despite the undead corpse they saw just minutes ago. Sherry is pacing nervously.

“What about those two girls we met earlier?” Lazar says.

“Oh, yes, we each get one then! I claim--”

“Both of you shut up,” Jake puts a hand over his eyes. One of their mentors has always said to never take any jobs that involved B.O.W.s or the undead. It is just his luck that the second they arrived at the school with the professor, they were frog-marched to a storage building and told to examine an undead abomination that had once been a student.

 _The chains barely held the girl, who was not much more than a decaying corpse with mottled skin and milky eyes. The smell of rotting flesh was nauseating as she lunged forward in the chains and snapped her teeth, which were stained red with chunks of gore. While Jake’s seen and made his fair share of corpses in the past few years of mercenary work, it’s his first time face to face with one that’s still moving around_...

_Sherry stared past the monster, as if she were somewhere else._

_Dr. Wright’s expression was dire. “This is a t-virus infection, and we need to start looking for the source.”_

The kids here are supposed to be geniuses, loaded, or both. The two girls they met earlier, Bindi and Alisa, speak flawless English. The school admin, on the other hand, must all be morons. Who in their right mind would try to take care of an obvious biohazard without getting professional help? Looks like this job is too good to be true after all. And now they are trapped at this school and can’t even leave… Their phones have no signal here, and the school security has confiscated their vehicle on arrival.

“Jake?”

“We have to go look around,” he says softly in Russian, hoping to keep things on the down and low from any kids passing by. “Talk to the student body, check on the area and the animals.”

“Why?” Lazar asks.

“The old man thinks it might the t-virus being spread by animals. We need to find out what kind.”

“We need to move fast. If it’s the t-virus, the whole school could easily become a powder-keg, and you don’t want to be around for that.” Sherry cuts in. Her understanding Russian is as much a surprise as the professor knowing Serbian. “I’ll explain later. For now, take note anyone who looks ill and capture any animals that are behaving more aggressively than normal. Rodents are the prime candidates, but don’t rule anything out, and _don’t_ raise an alarm. We can’t have the whole school in a panic. It’ll be worse if the students get to the town, only to spread the infection there as well.”

Jake wants to ask why she had that far-off look when Gracia was showing them the zombie, but now is not the time. “Marko, see what you can find from the students. Lazar is good with animals. I’ll check the woods over here.”

“You just like the idea of being alone,” Lazar grouses as Marko rushes off to chat up some teenage girls. Jake rubs a hand over his head and props up his jacket collar before heading to a wooded area near the school. He lets out a sigh and starts searching for potentially infected animals, but the forest seems completely abandoned. Snow is starting to fall heavily. He huffs in annoyance before hurrying back to the school. As he stomps the dirty snow off his boots, the pristine white stone under his feet turn brown with mud stains.

_How many people do they have cleaning things up around here?_

“Oh, you look tired! Would you like some water?”

“Of course!”

He walks onto Marko being fawned over by two girls who are at most fifteen. As he approaches, the two girls look almost giddy at the sight of him.

“There they are.”

A small group of teens, more _gopniks_ than actual strong-men, approach them and chase off the two younger girls. The ringleader, a precocious-looking teenager, twirls her hair. The whole thing is so comical that he’s almost surprised that none of the boys are wearing Adidas tracksuits.

“So, you’re outsiders. Brought anything fun?” asks one of the knuckleheads, coming up and looking ready to shove them.

“You should have them introduce themselves to me first,” the ringleader says in an overly-flirtatious tone that has Jake rolling his eyes.

“Ugh, even the rich have little punks like you,” he mumbles under his breath.

Marko barks out a laugh at that, but the delinquents don’t seem as amused. One of the them stomps forward, trying to act threatening, before freezing at the sight of another person approaching. It’s Alisa, one of the students who welcomed Dr. Wright and Sherry to the school. He vaguely recalls that she introduced herself as the vice president of the student council, or some such nonsense he never had time for when he was growing up. She must hold some power over this little gang of delinquents, because they run off after just a few stern words from her. Clearly distracted by how good-looking she is, Marko thanks her profusely for “stopping those hooligans.” Jake holds back a snicker. They should be past the point of swooning over teenage school girls, but Marko enjoys the simple things in life, even if it goes nowhere.

“Everyone’s been here together since middle school. It’s just been all of us together for years. I think that’s why we are so excited about visitors,” Alisa smiles at Marko.

“Oh, there you two are,” Sherry walks up. Marko is still jabbering about how nice Alisa is and how good her necklace looks on her. Not really listening, Jake replies with an absent-minded “Yeah, sure, cute.”

Sherry gives them a strange look. “It’s about time to head in.”

Lazar is waiting for them. They are directed up to their quarters in the guesthouse. They have each been given their own bedroom suite. The individual suites exit to a tastefully decorated common area. Under normal circumstances, he would have been thrilled about not being crammed into a boarding house at the town with the other mercenaries, but being trapped at a biohazard-infested school is making it hard to appreciate the upscale accommodations.

Sherry quickly retreats to the closest bedroom and closes the door, the lock clicking loudly into place. After some time, Dr. Wright joins them and moves tiredly to the kitchen and starts up the coffee maker.

“What’s up with her?” Jake asks, shrugging off his jacket as Marko lays claim to the bedroom with the best mountain views. Lazar is lounging on a couch nearby.

“She’s upset over Gracia’s handling of things, even if some of it makes sense,” Dr. Wright tells them, pouring some coffee for everyone. “Gracia didn’t tell me the extent of the biohazard incident until we got here. All she wants right now is to stop the virus from spreading while covering up the whole thing. I tried to talk some sense into her earlier, but she is still refusing to contact outside help, including the B.S.A.A. or your mercenary group. She controls all communications and transportation to the outside, so we’re basically trapped here and have to find the source of this infection ourselves.”

“You’re joking!” Marko is probably taking this the hardest, out of all of them.

Jake sips his coffee. “This Gracia lady is probably bonkers. You’d think she’d call in the pros after a kid is turned into a zombie.”

If they can find what happened to Nanan, maybe that’ll get them closer to an answer. Marko had already asked a few of the girls in her year where she went, taking care to keep the inquiry casual. They all said that Nanan transferred out months ago, and no one seemed particularly sad about that fact.  

Something’s obviously being covered up here, besides the zombie in the basement.

The professor continues to blow on his coffee, even though steam has long since stopped rising from it. “I hate to keep asking more favors of you three, but with how big this campus is, I can’t search all of it on my own, and …I don’t want to have Sherry face more of this. It goes without saying, but if there’s any opening, take it and get out of here and alert the B.S.A.A..”

“She seems able to handle herself.” Jake suddenly feels a need to defend her. Yes, he’ll get slack for it later, if Lazar and Marko’s looks are anything to go by, but judging from how well she’s holding up after seeing the zombie, she is probably not quite the wilting flower the professor thinks she is.

Dr. Wright considers this for a long moment. “She’s faced this before, and knows what can come of Gracia’s methods and precautions. I fear that she and Gracia will fight, and that will only make things harder.”

=

Sherry sighs as she wakes up from what felt like a strange nightmare, or maybe a memory. Seeing the zombie had brought back memories she didn’t particularly enjoy, ones she’d thought were long buried.

Thinking about the monster that her father became makes her feel almost queasy, as does the reminder of what it did to her. The subsequent memories aren’t pleasant either - Leon being taken away and forced to work for the Secret Service, Claire leaving to find her brother, she herself taken into government custody and experimented on. She goes into to the common area connecting their suites to get a glass of water, and frowns when she notices Jake’s door is open. He is still snoring in his bed while a school girl shambles towards him. How did she even get in here?

The girl crawls on top of Jake. Dumbfounded, Sherry stands there until the girl makes a sound that has haunted her dreams for years. Jake startles awake, eyes wide in the dim light as putrid drool threatens to land on his cheek.

She runs in, not even bothering to find a weapon, and rips the girl - no, zombie - away from him. The zombie snaps its teeth as she wrestles with it. Jake jumps out of bed immediately, pulling a knife from under his pillow and trying to dislodge the zombie so he can get a clear hit. She is secretly glad he doesn’t get distracted by the fact that she’s in a pair of boy shorts and a T-shirt under her robe.

While grappling with the zombie, she trips on a rug and loses her grip. It immediately lunges at her for a bite. Jake tries to stop it, but it reacts too quickly and latches onto his shoulder like a bulldog. He lets out a pained cry, stabbing the zombie blindly on the side.

“JAKE!” She tries to rip the zombie off him as heavy footsteps and cries echo down the hallway. The door suddenly slams open. The school’s security guards pour into the room, rushing to their aid and restraining the zombie.

Jake is clutching at an ugly wound on his shoulder, hissing in pain and doing his best to staunch the bleeding. She grabs a towel and applies pressure. Dr. Wright, Marko, and Lazar arrive, followed shortly afterwards by Mother Gracia and her entourage of nuns and bodyguards. The other two mercenaries rush to Jake’s side. Sherry opens her mouth to impress on the headmistress the gravity of the situation, but Dr. Wright beats her to it.

“Call the B.S.A.A.! Do it _now!_ ” He gestures to the room, the blood, and the injured and possibly infected Jake. “Gracia, please, you have to call them!”

“This isn’t about your reputation anymore!” Sherry yells. She’s coated in blood of someone she’s starting to like. If he turns... “If you let this go on, you could have more kids infected and dead. Their families won’t even have bodies to bury. Is that what you want? Is your school’s reputation so important you’ll risk more lives? Your student’s lives?”

Gracia’s expression doesn’t even waver. The impassive eyes turn to her. “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“I’m a survivor of Raccoon City,” It’s easier than expected to say this in front of everyone, probably because this is too much like what happened before. “I was _twelve_! If you don’t call in the B.S.A.A., there’s gonna be another outbreak on your hands!”

Silence descends. Everyone’s eyes are on her, the survivor of an event that is now ubiquitous with death and destruction, saying that history will repeat itself here. She waits, hoping for some give from Gracia.

The headmistress is quiet, as if considering, but ultimately refuses to budge.

“I will post guards at the door, to help you in case the young man turns out like this poor child.”

Lazar and Marko glare daggers at Gracia as she leaves, but can’t do much against the armed guards. Dr. Wright curses under his breath and goes after Gracia. The zombie is taken away, fighting and  groaning all the while despite being gagged. Around its neck, a pendant of platinum twisted intricately into a cross glitters in the light. It looks familiar…

“ _Jebu su, Jake_ ,” Lazar looks back at his friend, “you would die saving some cute girl.”

“Shut up,” Jake shoots back, wincing as he leans against the headboard. He’s sweating, whether from pain or the virus, she can’t tell. His eyes turn to her. “You ok?”

She shakes her head, hugging herself as she begins to feel the sudden cold. If this is really the t-virus, Jake has a few days at most, but...

She is suddenly aware of the tackiness of her bloodstained clothing and the fact she’s not wearing very much in a room with three guys. “That girl…” she changes the subject quickly, “wasn’t she the one you two were talking to earlier? The one with the cross necklace?”

“Alisa,” Jake closes his eyes, “she was fine a few hours ago, before dinner.”

“She looked okay at dinner too,” Lazar returns with a glass of water and some pills.

She needs a change of clothes, but at the same time, she wants to stay to make sure that the person who risked his life for her doesn’t turn into a…

“Sherry,” Lazar’s voice is calming. “We can take care of Jake. Why don’t you go get some sleep?”

The three mercenaries all look more worried for her than for the person who is actually injured. She opens her mouth to demand to be allowed to stay, but checks herself. She feels emotionally and mentally exhausted from the tirade against Gracia, though it turned out to be useless in the end. Also, she’s only known Jake for two days. It’s not her place to be barging into their tight-knit group. With a final worried look at him, she goes back to her room. She briefly hears him say something in Serbian before she shuts the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, plot. I'm horrible. I need to get back to the sex, but right now plot dictates I make Jake and Sherry cute together.  
> ...yes, by 'plot' I mean 'my muses' and by 'be cute together' I mean 'kill a zombie together'. That's cute! lookit them being cute together.
> 
> And happy birthday to Starfire_Moon! I swear I'll get to the rest of the stuff.


	6. "Let the Palace of the Land of No Return Rejoice at Thy Presence!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake recovers and things at the school escalate, with a sudden fight underground turning deadly, and more signs of danger showing in the town below. The B.S.A.A and all other parties prepare themselves for the events to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Lullite! also everything else is updated too, so...lets add in a few things.
> 
> Also I promise there will be sex...later. much...much later.
> 
> Look, there's not a lot I can do for evil zombies and when the two main people are in a constant state of being away from each other.

##### |Let the palace of the land of no return rejoice at thy presence!|

 

_Monday, December 20, 2010_

 

Jake moves his left shoulder gingerly, trying to ignore the conversation around him. The shoulder still hurts but feels much better compared to last night. During the night, he was delirious from painkillers and a fever from that virus. He vaguely recalls making declarations of how very interesting Sherry is, how awesome she looked fighting that zombie, how she can totally taking down lesser people with just a glare. Marko has repeatedly reminded him that he also said that he’d like to be between her legs while doing unsavory things to her person and making her scream his name. He doesn’t even remember saying that, but even Lazar confirmed it, so he must have…

He blames these delirious ramblings on the painkillers and the near-death experience. If he were in his right mind, he definitely wouldn’t have said any of this out loud to anyone, even if they were the two people he was closest to. Then again, he’s going to hell anyway for letting Mom die. Lusting after the nice American girl who saved him probably won’t make things any worse, since girls aren’t into him anyway. Marko chases girls and has a pretty good success rate, while Lazar gets them without trying. As for him, his “scary” expression drives most girls away, when he’s not busy dealing with angry boyfriends, fathers, or brothers that his two friends pissed off. After one of his jobs gave him a long scar on his already intense face, he essentially gave up on trying to pursue the opposite sex. Hookers are technically an option, but Mom raised him far better than that.

Though he has only been a mercenary for a few years, he has comforted enough sick or dying comrades to know the kinds of things people can say. A few times, sickness and fever has led to very weird moments that no one ever mentions again. In his case, when the cold light of day washed away the lingering effects of the fever and the drugs, only for the subject of his ramblings to walk in and _hug him_ , he had assumed he’d get the same courtesy from Marko and Lazar.

He assumed wrong. Honestly, it’s like he didn’t kill that one rebel who snuck up on Marko, or rescued Lazar from an ambush before they’d both turned the tables on their assailants. It’s like their friendship didn’t even matter as the two tried to convince Sherry that he needed a kiss to heal all his woes.

“Like a mother would to a child, you just need to kiss where it hurts,” Marko continues saying to Sherry while Jake silently wishes for the death he’d just escaped, “and his face, you can see, needs all the help it can get.”

“More than his face,” Lazar adds with a snicker, only to be interrupted by Professor Wright, who gives Lazar and Marko a calculating look that bodes badly for them.

“If Jake’s better, we’ll have to start our research early. And you both are obviously too traumatized by nearly losing him to think clearly.”

He dumps the rest of the still-steaming pot of coffee down the sink. Lazar makes a dying sound, as if he were being stabbed in the back.

“You both should come with me. I have to collect some of the animals in this area, while Jake _rests_ for the day.”

It is a low blow, taking away the coffee. He doesn’t need it, being naturally energetic and a morning person. Marko, on the other hand, likes his over-sugared coffee. The one time they went to a Starbucks...the less said the better. Lazar, when he’s not drinking slivo or Stoli or whatever alcohol he can get his hands on, basically lives on the blackest of all black coffees.

But Jake has no sympathy for them, no matter what sad looks they send his way as they’re shooed out of the room. Once they’re gone, Dr. Wright and Sherry begin talking scientific mumbo jumbo at each other, like he’s not right next to them. By the end of their conversation, the only thing he can understand is that they are in agreement that the virus making the zombies isn’t the t-virus, and isn’t spread via zombie bite. Before leaving, Dr. Wright again nags at him to rest and Sherry to leave Gracia alone for now.

“You don’t have to stay here all day if you don’t want to,” Sherry tells him once the two of them are alone. “I know it might be boring.” She sets a few breakfast things in front of him.

“You want me to keep you company for the day?”

“Another set of eyes helps. Besides, a walk wouldn’t hurt you, and after all, I need to stay away from Gracia.”

With classes going on, they have the run of the place without having to deal with fawning school girls or _gopniks_ and wannabe gang members. He and Sherry decide to use this time to explore the lay of the land, but given the size of the school grounds, it is still easy to get lost.

He grins in vindication when he spots Lazar chasing after a small animal, only for it to scurry into a drainage ditch. Lazar ends up half-stuck when he reaches his arm in too far. Marko lags behind, having slipped and fallen face-first in a snowbank. Dr. Wright chuckles at the two “peacocks” who can’t even catch a mouse.

But fun and games aside, the situation right now isn’t good. Their attempts to escape or get outside help have been unsuccessful thus far. When Marko checked their car the night before, the gas tank was empty and the other vehicles were well-guarded. Trying to leave on foot in this weather would be suicidal. Despite being told that the virus infecting the students is likely a previously undocumented virus with no vaccine should things get out of hand, Gracia is still adamantly refusing to contact anyone about the outbreak. He briefly considers taking her hostage and forcing her to let them leave the school, but there are way too many armed guards following her around for a ploy like that to work. Given the dire situation, they’ve been forced to put the investigation into Nanan on the back burner.

“This place is something,” he says to Sherry with a touch of bitterness.

“It’s an odd place, so cut off and far away from everything.”  

“Was Raccoon City the same?” he asks before he can stop himself.

“...in a way. It was like its own world, Umbrella’s city.” Her gaze wanders to a few workers unlocking a door. “I don’t like this place.”

Jake snorts, “We’re pretty much prisoners here. It’s not gonna feel like the best place in the world.”

He’s annoyed when their little heart-to-heart is interrupted by the sound of a panicked crowd and the smell of smoke. A fire has broken out in an out-of-the-way building, though the smoke and flames are enough to alarm the students. Bindi is there and tries to calm them without success. She then suggests calling for the fire department or outside help, but is shut down by the security guards. The students remain in a state of near hysteria until Gracia appears. A few words from her are enough to make them settle down. This level of devotion is creepy. He has only ever seen it in those crazy cults in horror movies.

It’s beyond obvious that something is being covered up in that building, but he forces himself to bide his time until after dinner. By then, it is already dark and the fire has burned itself out. The security guards are gone. What a bunch of amateurs. He, Marko, and Lazar pretty much waltz into the building. Inside are three corpses charred beyond recognition, including Alisa’s, if not for the familiar cross necklace around its neck. No doubt Gracia is hoping to get rid of the infected bodies by burning them.  

As they make their way back to their rooms, there is another scream, nearly drowned out by clanging of bells. This day just gets better and better. They run over to the source, a nearby maintenance building. A worker staggers out of a doorway, blood dripping from his mangled shoulder. Jake hears an inhuman sound from the darkness beyond the door and slams it shut before whatever is making the sound can get out.

“What the hell happened?”

“T-the others. They were...they…”

The man faints before saying anything useful.

He yells to get the attention of some students passing by, “Someone’s hurt! Get the medical people over here and call the higher-ups!”

=

The message from Dr. Wright’s nephew worries Piers, especially in light of the developments in Edonia and the intel from the files Echo team got on their last mission. The professor hasn’t been heard from for several days, ever since he left to investigate a potential biohazard incident at a prestigious boarding school in Edonia. As a result, his nephew contacted Chris, who is a long-time friend of the professor. To further complicate matters, the ELA has recently unleashed B.O.W.s and a new strain of virus on Edonia’s capital. The Edonian military is struggling against the onslaught and the capital is in chaos. The ELA has also laid siege to the port town near the school Dr. Wright was heading to, though the military is preoccupied with the fighting at capital and hasn’t spared much manpower to break the siege at the town.

“So why aren’t we at the town?” he asks, glancing at the reconnaissance findings. “They’ve got the place surrounded and they’re planning something. If they have a virus--”

“ _Piers,_ ” Jill’s voice shuts him up so quickly that everyone looks at him curiously. Most of them don’t get it. She is scary _._ “ _There is a mercenary group there. It’s unclear who hired them, but they don’t seem to be in cahoots with the insurgents yet. We have to get them on our side, or at least not working against us, so that things don’t turn sour when we get there._ ”

She is not in Europe, probably because she and Affini are constantly at each other’s throats over the handling of Chris’s recovery. Nevertheless, she is more knowledgeable about this particular region of Europe than Affini, which is why she is in charge of this mission.

“ _Charlie will be there to evacuate the civilians and make contact with the mercenaries. Your team will deal with B.O.W.s and protect the civilians, and will stagger your arrivals there. Delta and Echo will provide additional backup. Bravo will assist Edonian and UN forces in breaking the siege._ ” She pulls up the available intelligence on the virus being used by the ELA insurgents.  “ _Based on the few samples collected thus far from the capital, this looks like a new variant of the t-virus, though we’re not completely sure yet. Unless we find evidence to the contrary, we can probably assume that Neo-Umbrella is the supplier.”_

Piers feels a surge of rage as he looks at the images of gruesomely mutilated bodies. Neo-Umbrella and the others who traffic in these sick experiments will pay.

=

Jake gives Marko a pointed look the moment Bindi catches up to them with a crossbow. in hand.

“Oh come on, you don’t know that I told her!”

Dr. Wright shakes his head like a disappointed parent.

“This isn’t fair, I didn’t tell her much… At first....Look, she somehow found out whose bodies Gracia was burning in that building. What else was I supposed to do?”

Tahir Kapoor, a heavyset guard that Gracia sent to aid them, complains that having a kid tag along will be way too dangerous. Even if Bindi looks like she knows how to use the weapon, Jake has to agree, but it’s not really his problem if some headstrong teenager won’t listen and wants to get herself killed.

They have been ordered by Gracia to investigate the underground facilities after five of six workers failed to return from routine maintenance. The sixth one managed to escape, only to later die from his injuries. Intending to conserve bullets, since who knows how long Gracia plans on withholding outside contact, they have brought along other weapons for this mission. Jake is wielding an axe, Lazar an antique sword Kapoor dug up, Kapoor a sledgehammer, Marko a baseball bat, Sherry and the professor crowbars. Guns will only be used as a last resort because the underground is likely crammed full of pipes and other ricochet-happy metal surfaces.

“I won’t be a burden!” Bindi says resolutely. “Now that I know the truth, I have to do _something!_ ”

“I understand you take your role as student body president to heart, but--” Kapoor starts, only to be cut off.

“Wouldn’t it be a shame if I make a ruckus in the dorms and tell everyone what’s been going on?”

“Nobody would believe you,” says the guard, clearly flustered. Bindi stares him down unflinchingly.

Finally, he gives in. “She’s made up her mind. We need to move.”

“Marko can keep an eye on her,” Lazar offers. The man in question looks upset for a second. Jake moves closer to Sherry as they head into the dark, stuffy underground. The beams from their flashlights sweep across the area, which appears abandoned except for a few rats scurrying away. Bindi sticks close to Marko, prattling on about wanting to be useful in the search and being confident that Marko has her back.  

The guard bellows into the darkness and tries to get the zombies to come out.

“Let’s not get all of their attention at once,” the professor says quietly. They all hold their weapons a little closer.

“Mother Gracia’s orders were to take care of them all. Retreat isn’t an option!”

“I don’t get your blind faith in her.” Dr. Wright shakes his head.

“Are you questioning--”

“Oh look, someone’s severed arm,” Lazar deadpans, which stops the argument right away.

Bindi moves closer to get a better look. “Maybe it’s fake?” she asks hopefully.

“Doubtful,” Sherry says, her brows scrunching in concentration. “Zombies don’t attack their own kind. If there’s an arm here, it’s likely that there are only four zombies, and one of the workers didn’t turn.”

Dr. Wright starts to say something, but before he can get the first word out, Kapoor moves with unexpected speed and brings the sledgehammer down on a zombie that has sneaked up from behind.  

“Go for the head! Nothing else will count!” Sherry yells.

Jake nods and buries the axe in its skull. The zombie crumbles to the ground. It starts to move again before Jake can dislodge the axe for a second hit. The guard makes the finishing move, crushing the zombie’s skull and splattering the contents across the floor. The force of the strike sends Jake’s axe flying down the hallway, towards the sound of moaning and shuffling footsteps from the dark corridors beyond.

A flashlight beam falls on one of the transformed workers, skin now pale-gray and taunt, almost cracking, eyes white and wide, sunken into their heads.

“I think we should try the thing that you said wasn’t an option before,” Jake says.

“Good idea,” Kapoor agrees when the zombies start to run towards them. They retreat into a nearby room. Jake laments the loss of the axe. Just his luck that he lost his weapon after just one enemy.

Once everyone is in the room, they scramble to lock and barricade the door.

A rattling wheeze makes them all turn towards the source of the sound - a blood-soaked man collapsed against the wall. He is looking in their general direction through unfocused eyes. His left arm is missing.

Well, guess that explains the arm they found earlier.

Given the amount of blood pooling around him, the man is clearly not long for this world. Sherry looks troubled and unsure of how she can help.

Wright wraps a makeshift tourniquet around the mangled stump of the missing arm and tries to get some answers from the man before he kicks the bucket. Bindi begins to protest that he needs medical attention.

“His condition is critical,” Lazar whispers to her, “and there’s no way to get him out of here in time. We need to get information.”

“H-hooded...woman,” the dying man chokes out, “th-this...is...all...her fault.”

“A hooded woman? Here?” Sherry asks, confused.

“S-she was...watching...us work...we...called out...but...she...her eyes...were empty. We...got scared, then...the others...started...choking. I did...too. S-she was...smiling. That...bitch’s...must have…done...something…”

A final shudder runs through him before his body goes limp and his eyes glaze over. The professor searches the man’s neck for a pulse before pulling his hand away dejectedly. Bindi makes the sign of the cross and gets to one knee to say a prayer for the man. Once she’s finished, Sherry approaches with the crowbar.

“I need you to move.”

The coldness of her voice makes everyone fall back, even Bindi. The professor looks up at her with obvious concern. “We can take care of his body, Sherry. You don’t have to.”

“Dr. Wright, please.”

He pauses for a long moment before moving away. Sherry takes off the man’s hard hat and brings the crowbar down with enough force to crack open his head in just one swing. Jake blinks. This is not something he expected from her.

“He said they were choking on something. It could be airborne. That’s bad,” she says as soon as the deed is done, as if trying to distract herself from what is going on.

“Sherry,” Dr. Wright puts a hand on her trembling shoulder, “we still have Ricky. He will get the B.S.A.A. here when he doesn’t hear back from us. I know Gracia wants this covered up, but this has gone on too far.”

Kapoor is quiet, looking at the dead man. “It’s been escalating for a while. Before you guys were called in, ...a teacher attacked Mother Gracia.” Judging by the pinched expression, that must have been a friend of Kapoor’s. “But why would there be a hooded woman down here?”

“Not sure, but that means we’ll have to look for one, right?” Lazar says.

Marko snorts, “That and get some gas-masks, apparently, if she’s spreading this virus through the air. But you realize what this information means, right?”

Bindi looks nervous. “W-what?”

“It means someone planned this. This is a deliberate case of bioterrorism.”

=

_Tuesday, December 21, 2010_

 

In the infirmary, Jake bandages Marko’s hand. Lazar and Sherry are taking care of Dr. Wright, who has a large bruise on his flank from being struck by a reanimated Kapoor. Bindi has been sent to her room by Gracia after confirming that despite fainting, she is uninjured.

Things had gone south when they were trying to take down the remaining zombies in the underground. After searching the darkness for an indeterminate period of time, the already dim lights went out on them. Kapoor was attacked and killed when they ran into something in the darkness. When the dust settled, Bindi had disappeared. Before they were able to take care of the guard’s body and search for Bindi, more zombies appeared for them to take care of. Afterwards, Marko went to look for her as soon as he was able. He eventually stumbled upon her passed out in a corridor but fortunately alive and unharmed, claiming to have been snatched by a cloaked woman.

They later found the remaining zombies gathered together, Kapoor now one of them. Lazar was able to sneak up and kill one instantly, but the remaining two noticed and attacked. Even as a zombie, Kapoor swung the hammer heavily, catching the professor in the side before Sherry managed to cave in his skull with the crowbar. Lazar took care of the last one, beheading it with a clean slice of the sword. Before leaving the underground, they searched up and down for this cloaked woman, but came up empty-handed.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason for who will turn into a zombie. Jake himself was bitten but is none the worse for it except for a bite wound. Maybe the virus is only spread through the air in some special way, like that worker said? He can’t make heads or tails of this whole thing.

A room of the infirmary has been turned into a makeshift morgue. Gracia is standing over Kapoor’s covered corpse. Her normally inscrutable expression is tinged with what appears to be mourning. After a few minutes, she leaves without a word. Dr. Wright sits up in bed as if to go after her, but ultimately stays put, too worn out from his injury and the earlier ordeal.

Once Gracia is out of earshot, Marko mumbles a few choice words about her.

“Don’t be so vulgar. We’re at a school,” Lazar chides half-heartedly.

“Things aren’t going to get easier,” Dr. Wright says, “I need to talk to Gracia again, but right now, it’s probably better if we rest up.”

“And the cloaked woman? What--”

There’s the sound of explosions in the distance. He exchanges a look with Marko and Lazar before heading over to the window. Although the falling snow makes it hard to see clearly, the lights from the town have dimmed. Marko lets loose a far worse string of curses than the ones about Gracia.

The ELA is making its move. They don’t have much time left to get to the bottom of this outbreak before they’ll have to either get out of here or convince Gracia to let them do their job and protect the school.

=

Sherry listens quietly at the door of Mother Gracia’s office. She initially planned to speak to Gracia alone, but the sound of Bindi’s voice gives her pause.

“Why did you go to the underground with them?”

“To protect the academy from a potential biohazard,” the girl replies resolutely.

There is a pause. “In the basement, I saw Nanan. It’s impossible, I know.”

Gracia gently suggests that Bindi may have just imagined seeing Nanan there, with the bad lighting and how scared everyone was.

“We may not be able to keep this secret much longer. I trust you’ll make the right decision...Mother,” Bindi says with an odd sense of finality.

Sherry leaves before they catch her eavesdropping. The name Nanan doesn’t ring a bell, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if she ends up being another infected student whose death Gracia covered up. The circumstances surrounding the outbreak at this school are turning out to be murkier than any of them have anticipated.

=

_Wednesday, December 22, 2010_

 

“The B.S.A.A. is trying to get people out of town, but it’s chaos. The ELA isn’t fuckin’ around,” Aca tells them while moving weapons and supplies off the snowmobile.

“The hell do you mean?” Jake looks over at the only other redhead from their group. Last night, they were called to Mother Gracia’s office, given a satellite phone, and allowed to contact the mercenaries in town for additional supplies and news of what was going on, all the while being kept at gunpoint by school security. She stressed to not say anything about the zombies. Though Jake wanted to argue, Lazar had quieted him with a hard look. They contacted Aca, who agreed to bring up as many weapons and supplies as they could spare. Wright did his best to try to convince Gracia to contact the B.S.A.A., but was again unsuccessful. The guy is probably too blinded by his feelings for the woman to realize the extent she’ll go to protect the reputation of her perfect school.

“I mean this place’s safe! It’s secluded and easy to defend. Maybe we can get people here to keep them safe from the ELA,” Aca says, rubbing his eyes to sneak a glance at the guards watching them. His face is red from braving the cold and snow in order to deliver them extra weapons. It’s not a lot, but it might be enough to at least make things more difficult for the ELA if they decide to come this way. “It’s bad. They’re just shelling the town right now, but last I’ve heard, they have B.O.W.s and some new virus that turns people into zombies…”

Lazar pats Aca on the shoulder. The two are older than Jake and Marko, but Lazar has always managed to befriend everyone easily. “Get back down there, Aca. They’ll need you.”

Aca nods and turns to leave. Jake wants badly to tell him what’s been going on up here and ask him to contact the B.S.A.A., but Gracia’s guards are watching closely. Given how fanatical her underlings are, he can’t risk trying anything that will lead to them shooting Aca on the spot.

They go back to the guesthouse, where Wright and Sherry are waiting.

“We’re stuck,” Lazar admits, dropping off the bags of supplies, “not sure what else we can do but pray.”

Dr. Wright winces as he stands. “I’m going to tell Gracia the news about the town. It might not change her mind, but...”

“But what? All she cares about is that precious reputation of hers. With everything going on, you really think she’s not gonna double-down again instead of actually doing something helpful?” Jake’s attitude gets them all to fall silent. He doesn’t apologize, though, considering everything that’s happened.

“We have to try to keep the students safe,” Sherry says.

Lazar nods, opening up the supplies to examine the contents. He pulls out guns and ammo for them, as well as combat knives and a few other things. It’s not a lot, but hopefully it’ll last them until the B.S.A.A.gets here to back them up.

=

The sound of artillery fire draws Wesker out of his vacation rental. The ELA has been slowly converging on the town over the past few days in a rather obvious manner. The attack doesn’t exactly surprise him.  In recent weeks, he has spent more time here in order to search the town for his son after their initial chance encounter, but Jake is nowhere to be found. He suspects that Jake is no longer at the port town, which works out quite well as the place is now under attack. He looks down at the once sleepy town, where a great deal of the townspeople are running about like ants scurrying out of an overturned anthill. It is an amusing sight. In the meantime, things look calm at the school. Not the doing of his project then… Perhaps Neo-Umbrella has given the ELA something interesting.

It’ll be worth going into town again to see what he can find.

A sudden choking sound gets his attention. Heading out into the thick snow, he sees a young man with red hair, not Jake though, digging himself out of the aftermath of a sudden avalanche. He smirks at the patch with the spider insignia on the man’s coat sleeve.

“Trouble down the mountain?” The young man turns to face him and shakily holds out a gun, eyes wide with fear as his other arm starts to ripple and bulge out of the coat sleeve. The choking and gurgling increase as his body spasms.

“Apparently so.”

It’s a wonder why anyone would make such an odd strain. His guess is Alex. She is always so esoteric in her attempts at viruses, which failed more often than not.

The man shakes and lets out a tortured moan before mindlessly attacking. He incapacitates the infected mercenary in the blink of an eye. Holding down his prey with one hand, he takes out an empty syringe for a blood sample.

“Since you can’t give me my son at the moment, I’ll have to take whatever else you can give me.”

It will be somewhat inconvenient to transport the mercenary to the research facility, but he doesn’t mind the challenge. A mercenary leaving the school means his son could very well be there, which would explain his absence from the town. It is another reason to return to the school, besides the girl and her desire for revenge that has been very entertaining thus far. It’ll be interesting see how far she’ll go with her plans and how her first story will end.


	7. "Go, oh Gatekeeper, open thy gate for her. Deal with her according to the ancient decree."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battling through the port town, Chris realizes he does have an added 'gift' from his time with Wesker. Meanwhile, the school's feast-day is interrupted, ending in disaster.

##### |”Go, oh Gatekeeper, open thy gate for her. Deal with her according to the ancient decree.”|

 

_11:50 am_

 

Packed onto a LCAC with the rest of Alpha team, Chris listens as Charlie team escorts civilians towards the evacuation point. The bad weather is making travel difficult, and the ELA has destroyed most of the roads and bridges. Now, the one remaining bridge out of town is being guarded by one of the ELA’s tanks, severely bottlenecking the B.S.A.A.’s rescue operations, as if it’s not challenging enough to evacuate so many civilians at once.  

Watching the video feeds from Charlie team, he frowns at the bloodbathed zombies that are shambling out of various buildings. They are slow and are easily taken down by Charlie team, but the townspeople look increasingly on edge at the sight of the zombies, not to mention the sounds of shelling in the distance.

Without warning, a civilian falls down, writhing in agony. The people around him try to help, only to get knocked away. Charlie team is forced to kill the infected man when his body begins to swell unnaturally, bringing the crowd to a near panic.

Not good.

“ _Confirmed civilian infections,_ ” someone from Charlie team says shakily over the sound of the frantic crowd, “ _repeat, confirmed civilian infections._ ”

“Damn it,” Piers curses. Chris swallows, trying his best to not start barking orders. Piers has dealt with outbreaks involving civilian before, and so have most of Alpha team. The only difference now is that it’s a new strain of virus that they know little about.

“ _We have met with the Spiders mercenary group,_ ” another voice from Charlie comes over the coms, _“multiple sightings of civilian transformations._ No sightings of Professor Wright or his student thus far. They may not be in the city.”

Chris lets out a breath he doesn’t realize he was holding, praying that it means what he hopes it means.

“ _HQ, we could use some backup.”_

The request is immediately granted. Alpha, Delta, and Echo will help Charlie escort the civilians. Bravo will assist the Edonian military with breaking the ELA’s siege.

“Alright, time to move out.”

They nod and ready their gear. Finn moves closer to Chris, nervous despite this not being his first fight against B.O.W.s. Chris wonders if it’s because of what some of the zombies look like compared to previous zombies they’ve faced. The t-virus also causes painful transformations that can thankfully be prevented by the vaccine, but this is on whole new level. Some of the zombies are so mutilated that it almost looks as if they were deliberately tortured and transformed with the metal implements still embedded in their bodies.

“Charlie, we’re on our way,” Piers says.

They land on the coast and rush towards where Charlie team is. As they get further in, Chris can’t help but feel that something is awry. He glances around, seeing only a small group of civilians ahead. The sensation of _wrongness_ becomes more pervasive the closer they get to the civilians.

_Shit._

“Piers,” he whispers, “we have a problem.”

“A bigger one than this?”

“Yes,” he swallows before continuing as quietly as possible, “when I was with…Wesker…one of the...changes was that I could sense infected people. We’re next to a crowd of civilians and all I sense are infected.”

Piers stares at the group of civilians trying find a way out of town. “How come you didn’t bring this up earlier?”

“I didn’t think it was something that’d stick with me,” Chris growls back, upset about how things are going. He hasn’t really noticed the feeling in his recent missions because he’d been surrounded by B.O.W.s, not civilians. At the time, he’d chalked it up to his own instincts telling him things were wrong, instead of something that madman left him with...

A scream cuts through the small crowd. To his shame, he feels almost relieved about no longer being the focus of attention. Several civilians begin to convulse. Finn, Merah, and Have are forced to gun them down before they can transform, only to have more of the now-panicking crowd start to turn. His stomach roils as he senses the domino effect brought on by one scared man suddenly lashing out, then the larger pattern.

All the women and children are falling over dead, their bodies hideously twisted by the failed transformation. The men convulse and bleed as muscles and tendon are rearranged under the splitting skin. They fall still for a moment, then begin to attack the remaining humans with whatever makeshift weapons they were using earlier to defend their families.

“ _Dios mio_ ,” Jules breathes out as he takes aim.

By the time they are done, every single one of the civilians is dead.

With a barely perceptible quiver in his voice, Piers alerts HQ that something appears to be triggering the infection en mass.

“Chris,” Piers says to him quietly, “we need to meet up with Charlie and the mercenaries. If they’re infected too, we have to get them tested quick, and see about finding Dr. Wright.”

He nods, not trusting himself to speak.

“I need you to take lead on this. I’ll back you up, but…”

“Yeah,” he ducks his head, “useful thing to have, just wish I didn’t.”

They continue on towards Charlie team’s location.

=

Finn joined the B.S.A.A. not because he or a loved one was harmed by bioterrorism, but because he wanted to make a difference. When he was placed in the European division with Chris Redfield after completing training, he was over the moon. The Captain is hands down the most accomplished and skilled agent in the B.S.A.A, which was why everyone was taken by surprise when he went missing in Africa during what should have been a routine mission. When Chris was found again, the rumor mill went wild about what happened to him, especially given how hush-hush the higher ups were about the whole thing. Some people became wary of Chris, but Finn has always known that he is trustworthy. Even though the Captain is a man of few words and often appears troubled by something, he always looks out for Finn and the other new recruits.  It’s why Finn gets pissed when Beck, and sometimes Grif, say stuff about the Captain. It’s also why he’s not sure about Merah. Sometimes, when she thinks no one’s paying attention, she watches the Captain like she’s waiting for something… Maybe it’s because she used to be in the science division. He’s never interacted much with people from the science division, but he has heard they can be weird sometimes.

As Alpha Team takes cover in an abandoned cafe with overturned tables and stale bread, Finn brings up a map of the town so they can plan out their next move. The ELA has begun to target the more densely populated parts of town for bombardment. Parts of the town are now littered with large chunks of debris and inaccessible, even to soldiers on foot. At the same time, more and more civilians are transforming into zombies.

With respect to supplies, Jules, Chris, and Have are low on ammo from a sudden rush of zombies a few streets back. Beck, Hosea, and Merah are fine for now. Piers looks worried as he examines the town map, comparing them to what they’ve run into so far.

Piers puts away the map and begins to address them. “Ok, for now we need to redistribute what equipment we have in case we run into anything else, We’ll need to collect more info--”

There is the sound of a chopper passing low overhead. The helo isn’t theirs, since the ELA’s anti-aircraft weapons make it next to impossible to get anything close. The helo is carrying what looks like a large egg that is easily the size of a small house.

“It’s heading for where Charlie is,” Jules says.

Piers immediately orders them into action. “We’re the team with the clearest path to that area and we’re not otherwise occupied. Delta and Echo are dealing with the evacuations and crowd control elsewhere. We need to take down whatever that helicopter is carrying before it causes more trouble.”

Everyone nods and quickly finishes distributing the remaining bullets. Finn makes sure to give a few clips of ammunition to the Captain.

“Appreciate it, thanks,” Chris tells him with a nod and a small smile.

They race to try to catch up to the helicopter, splitting up when they see Charlie team and the mercenaries. Chris looks increasingly uncomfortable as they approach. Finn has a bad feeling about why. He wants to ask Chris if the mercenaries are infected too and has even come up with a very good excuse of having accidentally overheard Chris talking to Piers about his special ability - he wasn’t eavesdropping, honestly - but before he can ask, the egg starts to break open. However, Hosea continue to scan the face of each mercenary, paying no attention to the egg or the creature within that is barely visible through the translucent amniotic membrane.

“Little, fuckin’ focus!” Beck shouts when the hideous creature hatches from the egg. “This sonuvabitch ain’t gonna kill itself!”

Finn is close enough to hear Hosea ask “Muller, is he _here_?” to a bewildered mercenary, who shakes his head and points up the mountain. Hosea looks at the road leading up to the mountain, then takes off in that direction. Beck and Have yell at him to get back into position, but he continues to run like a man possessed.

The monster lets loose a loud screech. The effect on everyone is instantaneous. Finn feels his heart racing and muscle tensing involuntarily in a fight or flight response. Near him, a cacophony of screaming erupts as the remaining mercenaries begin to transform.

Piers yells at them to get into formation. “Beck, Have, leave him, get ba--”

A nearby building explodes into a spray of bricks and debris when the massive B.O.W. slams an arm into it. Beck and Hosea are buried by the rubble. Have barely escapes being crushed and has to twist and turn to avoid the infected mercenaries that are grabbing for him.

Finn ignores the screaming and focuses on the Captain’s voice yelling out orders. Piers, Grif, Jules, and Have are ordered to help Charlie team deal with the newly-turned mercenaries. He and Merah are ordered to stay with Chris to take down the B.O.W..

They split up and get to higher ground to get a better view of the monster. Finn sees a exposed spot on the monster’s back that’s not covered by carapace, and opens fire. Quickly catching on, Chris and Merah do the same from their locations. Finn is forced to stop firing and jump onto a different building when the monster goes ballistic and smashes the roof he was previously on, but Chris and Merah continue the onslaught. It takes less time than Finn expects, but soon the monster’s gait slows and it eventually keels over. He can’t help but feel proud of how quickly they defeated the B.O.W., especially when the Captain praises him for noticing the weak spot.

From his higher vantage point, he sees Jules and Grif fighting against a group of infected mercenaries. Several of the infected mercenaries overrun Grif and one begins to beat the downed man with a rusted pipe, which becomes redder with each heavy strike. Finn is about to scramble down to help, but Piers orders everyone to retreat to where Charlie parked the armored humvees. Have and the remaining members of Charlie team scatter with them.  

“This way! Rendezvous at the ace of spades!” He hears Chris’s voice. His instinctive trust for the man makes him obey without question even as chaos explodes around them. More of the transformed civilians emerge to attack them as they flee towards the humvees and potential safety.

_It’s just like a run, it’s just like a run, pace yourself, it’s just a run..._

The chant does nothing to stop the sounds of gunfire and screams as they reach the small group of cars and pile into one of them. Piers orders them to sound off.

“Merah, here.”

“Chris, here.”

“Finn, here.”

Finn checks his weapon and ammo. He has one full metal jacket in his pack, and the current one is good for a few shots, but not a burst. He sets his rifle to semi-auto to conserve bullets. They continue driving for a few miles, until they reach the designated rendezvous point that is thankfully free of zombies.

No one else has made it as far as he can see. Where is Have and Charlie team? Piers calls out over the radio, but there is no response.  

“Can we reach command?” Merah asks after Piers curses again, his temper starting to show. Normally, Piers is as calm and collected as the Captain. Rarely has Finn ever seen either lose their cool, though considering how things are going, this would be the time for it.

Piers is silent for a long moment, listening to whatever HQ is saying, then exclaims, “What do you mean, we have to get to the school? What about...what?” He goes quiet for a long time, before he finally says, “okay, we’ll head up there and make sure the area is secure. Roger on the possible issues.”

Piers turns to face them with an unreadable expression. “Our routes out of town are cut off until the ELA’s siege can be broken. The infection is too wide-spread and the town has been deemed unsalvageable. We’ve been ordered to retreat.” He gestures towards the mountains. “There’s a school up there, St. Jovan Academy. They say it’s safe, but we’ve been ordered to look for Dr. Wright there, and to do a safety check on that school and help out however we can. Hopefully, nothing from here has made it up the mountain.”

“I heard Hosea ask one of the mercenaries about someone up there,” Finn says. This gets the Captain’s full attention, though he doesn’t press Finn for details.

“Hosea was probably asking about Jake Muller, a member of the Spiders mercenary group. He’s been looking for this guy for quite some time,” Piers answers his unasked question while setting up a machine gun on top of the Humvee. There must be more to the story, but he curbs his curiosity for now. It’s time to move out. Chris takes the driver’s seat and the rest of them pile into the car with as many supplies as they can cram in. They begin the long drive up the winding mountain road.

 

_11:50pm_

 

Bindi hums absent-mindedly as she discards the bloodied rag, doing her best to think happier thoughts. Nearby, Nanan sits next to a large box. For whatever reason, the changes from the virus have resulted in Nanan becoming hypersensitive to external stimuli. Having a box like this helps greatly in giving her a place to rest if she needs it. Fortunately, Bindi doesn’t have a roommate to worry about. Her status as the Student Council President means she has her own room, though with how things are, this privilege may not last for much longer.

Gracia’s wrongdoings should have been revealed today, but Bindi canceled the planned attack on the festival to give the other students one last chance to come to her side, to realize that they should fight back against Gracia’s tyranny.

The mercenaries stopped her and took Gracia’s side. _Marko_ , of all people, sent her to her room and told her to grow up and stop trying to uncover things that weren’t important. NOT IMPORTANT! As if Gracia’s sins hadn’t caused Nanan’s death. As if her trying to cover up the outbreak and hiding the bodies hasn’t done enough damage.

Opening a case, she takes out the last syringe of Nanan’s medicine. As much as she wants to make the rest of the bullies pay, like Alisa and Lana, she can’t push Nanan too much, not after she’d run off and accidentally hurt the workers in the basement. The death of Gracia’s guard was a happy bonus, though it ultimately ended up turning people who should be on her side to Gracia’s.

She is naive for thinking that they would be any different. After Marko heard her speech to the student body and stopped her, he accused her of acting like a child.

 _You just have to wait_ , he and the rest of them said.

Wait and wait and wait. There’s no end to the waiting. Apparently they’re as enamored with Gracia as everyone else. It’s just her and Nanan now.  

She snaps the case closed with an audible click, just in time for a visitor to arrive.

“Interesting mutation. It appears to have accelerated recently.”

The visitor, a familiar man with slicked back blonde hair and sunglasses, climbs through the open window. He is unarmed and unthreatening, but Nanan still shifts agitatedly, probably alarmed by the sudden intrusion or worried about being taken away from Bindi.

He promised he wouldn’t. After these months with only him and Nanan to confide in, she can only hope that he’s not lying like everyone else she’s met so far.

“It’s thanks to what you’ve given me,” she smiles at him. “Are you upset? Did I do something wrong?”

“You are doing a marvelous job, better than most of those with far more resources. I’m not going to take her from you. It’s better if you continue to care for the one you love, as she’s been caring for you.”

Nanan relaxes visibly.

His expression turns more serious. “The situation at the town is rather dire.”

“How so?”

“Have you heard the bombings?”

She tenses in realization. Of course, another thing Mother Gracia has kept from them, hoping to keep everyone under control.

But no more.

“She needs to rest. Tomorrow morning during the Feast, I’m going to kill them all.”

He nods encouragingly.

“If the town is gone… can you protect us, after we take this place down?”

He hands her another case identical to the one she has. “Here is something that may help you. In here are also coordinates to a facility that I’m using. It belonged to a powerful organization that I used to work for. The organization is long gone, but I suspect their vestiges have a hand in the attack on the town. You’ve done well. I should ask if you would join me.”

She clutches the case tighter. “Join you?”

“You have talent. Further study into the virus could result in Nanan-- “ Nanan again becomes agitated at the sound of her name. “It’s up to Bindi, dear. She is the one who saved you and will be the one to care for you. I will merely be an observer.”

He looks back at Bindi. “You are old enough to determine your own course of action and deal with the consequences, even the bad ones.”

“What if I try to cover this up?” she asks bitterly, looking at how disfigured her friend has become. The sight reminds her of the first time Nanan came to her for help, covered in cuts and bruises from being beaten up. It was the first of many such visits, but no matter how many complaints and reports she filed, they all conveniently disappeared before reaching Gracia’s desk.  

“That is how some choose to act,” he replies, “you’ve become an adult who can easily handle those who have wronged you, and you understand loss. What happens next is up to you.”

She lightly touches Nanan’s face. Her friend looks back with a glazed-over eye, the rest of her face twisted by the virus that brought her back from death.

Gracia and the rest of them will pay. There is no going back.

“No matter what you choose, you will be a fine student if you join me. If not, then I will always remember you fondly.”

“You’re...leaving?”

“I want to watch from a good vantage point without interfering in your triumphant achievement. This is your win to savor. Besides, I also have someone that I’m waiting for. When he returns to me, he’ll have to be disciplined for leaving. Unfortunately, we have a rather tumultuous relationship. Rest up, both of you.”

He leaps out of the window and disappears into the darkness below. Closing the window, she opens the new case. It contains a single syringe and a note: _This will either be your gateway to the underworld, or your pass back from death. Choose wisely._ A set of coordinates are written on the back of the note.

She picks up the syringe. The dark liquid within is a swirl of red and lilac, different from the one that brought Nanan back.

_“You’re Nanan Yoshihara, right?”_

_The withdrawn girl looked up from her book, as if shocked that anyone would be talking to her civilly._

_“‘Nanan’...isn’t that the French word for candy? How cute!”_

_\---_

_“Whatever they do to me,” Nanan handed Bindi a folded paper star that looked like a ninja throwing star, “I’ll give it back to them twice as hard!”_

_\---_

_“You’re the vice-president of the student body, Alisa. You’re a disgrace!”_

_Alisa and her lackeys were bruised and battered after ganging up on Nanan, who had to be sent to the infirmary for her injuries. They promised bribes, favors, connections -- anything to keep this quiet._

_\---_

_Nanan’s body, limp and bloody against the cliffside. Mother Gracia said nothing, simply continued on like nothing had happened._

_\---_

_“I have something for you,” the blond man in the sunglasses handed her a case. “This will give you the power to shake the school to its core, but it will take time. You will have to be patient in your revenge. Can you do that?”_

“Sweeter than heaven and hotter than hell,” Bindi recalls the song she once heard, and lifts the injector to her neck.

=

_Thursday, December 23, 2010_

_9:30am_

 

Jake heads up to the roof with Marko and Sherry, hoping to see if anyone is coming from the city. Lazar and Wright are elsewhere, trying to contact the B.S.A.A. with the satellite phone they stole. Yesterday, Marko had had to put out a fire regarding Bindi and her sudden need to tell the whole school about the zombie attacks and blame Gracia for them, which almost resulted in another panic. It was sheer dumb luck that the students believed Gracia’s hand waving about how Bindi was just acting up because she was put on probation as the Student Council President. However, it is thanks to this mishap that most of the security are occupied with supervising today’s festival for the feast day of the school’s namesake. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to sneak past security to get the satellite phone.

The moment he steps foot on the roof, Jake freezes at the sight of someone in a black cloak balancing effortlessly on a railing like some kind of phantom. Below, the students are making a racket that doesn’t sound very celebratory, but he’s too far away to tell what is going on. Not planning to take any chances, he shoots the suspicious figure but misses by inches. The figure staggers, causing the hood to fall away.

He remembers the photo of Nanan that her father gave them. It showed a bright-eyed girl with auburn hair. This is Nanan alright, but she looks like a corpse left out to rot. Her skin is a dead gray and her remaining eye bear a strange, animalistic glint. One side of her face is covered in what can only be described as fleshy barnacles, if he wants to keep things at a kid-friendly rating. When she raises up one arm, he can see that more of them cover the rest of her body. He is standing too close. There’s no time to dodge when a mutated limb is launched at him.

“Jake!” Sherry jumps in front of him and pushes him away. Blood splatters his face as the limb - more like a tentacle - impales her through the midsection.  

“R-run...run, J-ja-ke…”

Her body jerks brokenly as she’s lifted into the air. Marko lands a few bullets in Nanan with no observable effect. The tentacle flicks in annoyance and dislodges Sherry, whose body hits the floor like a ragdoll. Forcing himself to not to freak out at the hole in her midsection, he fires off more shots, but Nanan is suddenly is too fast. The tentacle stained with Sherry’s blood wraps around Marko’s right arm and _pulls_. There is a wet pop, followed by Marko’s screaming. The monster pulls Marko closer by his dislocated arm and kisses him.

The whole thing is so surreal that Jake is frozen for a moment. When his brain finally comes online, he opens fire on the monster. Though she still looks unfazed by the bullets, she releases Marko and flees in the direction of the earlier commotion. It sounds like a mob is starting to form. He freaks and runs after her before he is stayed by the sound of Marko’s wet coughs.

Wait. Sherry’s hurt, Marko’s...Marko’s hurt, and sounds like he’s about to cough up a lung...

“fuck….FUCK!”

“ _Jake, what happened?_ ” Lazar’s voice comes over the walkie-talkie, but Jake ignores it. He slowly turns Sherry over. For some reason, she’s still alive and the wound in her midsection is steadily knitting itself back together. Pretty soon, there is only unmarred skin where the wound used to be.

“Jake...I…”

“ _Jake, answer me!”_

He hands her the walkie-talkie. “You took care of one already, and...you need to heal, Supergirl.”

He shakes as he slowly approaches Marko, whose hacking coughs are getting worse. He and Marko joined the Spiders at the same time. They’ve saved each other’s lives too many times to count. Marko always found the best food and booze at the best prices. He can charm anyone into talking and now…

Blood is gurgling out of Marko’s mouth. He lays on the ground with his limbs arrayed awkwardly. “Never thought… I’d be...done in...by a kiss…”

Jake chokes out a laugh, keeping both hands on the gun, but he can’t, he can’t, it’s _Marko_. Jake survived a bite, maybe Marko will get better, maybe they’ll all laugh about this a few years down the road.

“You know full well it would be a kiss that does you in.” A corny excuse of joke is all his brain can come up with at this moment.

His first shot misses Marko’s head.

“ _Jebu su, Jake_ ,” Marko mutters, “you’re...a better...shot...than…that… please, Jake. Please…” Tears are leaking out of his whitening eyes as his body begins to spasm.

_“Trying to join the Spiders too?” Jake frowned at the other person there. He looked too young to be here, especially with the dark, curly hair and boyish face. He held out a cup of tea in one hand and slivo in the other. Jake eyed the tea suspiciously._

_“I can get us in, get them to think we’re eighteen. I’m Marko.”_

_“What’s in it for you?”_

_Marko laughed. “I need a friend to drink this with. What do you say?”_

_After another moment of hesitation, Jake accepted the tea and sipped it cautiously. It was warm and tasted like the tea Mom used to make, when she was well enough to get out of bed. He’s doing this for her. He’s gonna survive and come back to her._

_\--_

_He barely survived his first job. When he limped back home as fast as he could, only to find Mom dead, he didn’t remember what happened afterwards. When he stumbled out of bed an indeterminable amount of time later, Marko was there with a bottle of slivo and a patient ear. They never spoke a word of it to anyone else, not even Lazar. Each year, on that hated anniversary, Marko always made sure Jake was too busy to stew about things, save to get flowers for her grave._

_“Your mother is watching over us. She’s our Saint Magda.”_

_Jake had wanted to muster up anger at that, but truthfully, she was a saint who gave birth to a horrible person. Having her watching over them would be a good thing, even if he didn’t deserve it._

“Let me go...tell Saint Magda...how great a son you are.”

Jake screams as he pulls the trigger. The bullet lands perfectly between Marko’s eyes. His friend’s body shudders once then goes limp.  

Sherry approaches him. He swallows and offers her the hand that’s not holding the gun in a death-grip.

“It’s ok. I won’t tell.”

She takes his trembling hand and slowly moves closer to him, as if about to pull him into a hug.

The commotion from the crowd of students suddenly comes to an ominous stop.  As much as he wants someone to tell him that everything will be okay, there’s no time.

“We need to figure out a plan with the others. Whatever is going on, we have to stop it.”

She nods without missing a beat and speaks into the walkie-talkie, “Dr. Wright, we need to get to Mother Gracia and move somewhere safe.”

“ _What about Marko? What the hell happened?_ ” Lazar is almost yelling, “ _Something fucked up the festival, I can see Bindi and..._ ” the silence is now punctuated by screams, _“You need to get out of there.”_

He grips Sherry’s hand tighter. “We found Nanan. She’s patient zero. She must be the one who infected everyone… She...” He can’t stop his voice from breaking, can’t stop looking back at Marko’s body, but Lazar has to know.

“She got Marko.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A) The shit in Edonia for RE6 took place on CHRISTMAS EVE, I'm allowed to ruin it for everyone.
> 
> B) Jake and Chris both have very short bios. I'm just adding in pain and suffering because I can.


	8. "If thou openest not the gate to let me enter...the dead will outnumber the living."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The B.S.A.A arrives, in time to see the destruction wrought. Jake and Sherry move to save Mother Gracia, while Lazar hopes to save as many as he can. Meanwhile, Professor Doug runs into a bad encounter...

##### |”If thou openest not the gate to let me enter...The dead will outnumber the living.”|

 

_10:45am_

 

Lazar is thankful that he held onto the sword after their escapade in the underground. Whenever possible, he has been using it in leu of the gun to conserve bullets. Cutting down another solitary zombie, he motions for the kids to follow him. In hindsight, he should have thought of a better place for a last stand than the chapel, but that’s their only option right now. They barely managed to contact the B.S.A.A., only to learn bad news. The port town is a lost cause for evacuation and the ELA is probably on its way up. He can only hope for a timely avalanche to slow the ELA down. However, anything that slows down the ELA will also slow down the B.S.A.A.. They’re pretty much sitting ducks at the moment for the ELA to take hostage. They can only try to hold out for as long as possible and hope for the B.S.A.A. to get here before the ELA does.

“We’ll be ok, kids,” Lazar reassures them and directs them down an empty corridor. He races the other way to check for other survivors one last time, and sees a downed girl who is kicking at the zombie attacking her. He beheads the zombie with the sword.

“You ok?”

“Y-ah...no…”

“We’re heading to the chapel,” he pulls out a gun from his pack and gives her the sword. “Come with us.”

“But...what about…Mother Gracia? S-she’s…”

“She’s safe for now,” he says, even though she’s probably dead by now, “but you need to go with the other kids. They need someone to protect them. Go.”

She looks at her shoes and says, “I-I’m Milica.”

He chuckles and kisses her hand. “Lazar, princess. Let’s have a better time than our namesakes.”

She blushes deeply before hobbling away. He looks back towards the long hallways, hearing the sounds of the turned and dying, and grips the gun harder.

“You, O comrades and brothers, lords and nobles, soldiers and _vojvodas_ \- great and small,” he whispers in Serbian, the speech memorized since he was young, when his mother told him stories of his namesake: Tsar Lazar, the great martyr who died in Kosovo to hold back the incoming Ottomans, giving up his life for the kingdom of heaven.

The zombies approach, and his pistol is up and ready.

“Better to die in battle than live in shame.”

He isn’t planning on dying, though. It’s not yet time for him to go to whatever reward or punishment is awaiting him. He still has things to do, places to be.

=

_10:57 am_

 

Chris’ hands are white-knuckled as they get to the main gate of the school after a too-long drive in the snow and ice, only to be confronted with a horde of zombies. Whatever hell-sense he was feeling back at the town has been escalating the closer they got to the school, and now he knows why. The whole place is overrun with zombies. He can sense that the virus at the school is different from the one at the town.

“Oh God...” Merah says, breathless.  

“We need to find the survivors and get them out.” Piers grabs a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. “There’s enough ammo, but be selective about your targets and stay on the move. If we have to, get back to the jeep and keep the survivors you find safe. You ok, Chris?”

“I’ll be better when this is over.”

“Chris…”

He hates that he can tell the difference between each virus, like a strange sort of synesthesia on top of his natural senses. He suddenly feels something familiar. It’s been so long that he has almost let himself forget about it.

_There was a persistent humming in the back of his mind. He couldn't remember when it started. Maybe it was from being struck on the head too many times. It was hard to remember things clearly these days. Earlier, he had tried to run when Wesker took him outside. It didn’t take long for him to get caught, but he caused enough problems to irritate his captor. The punishment had started as soon as he was dragged back._

_Once more, pain flared across his body in rapid succession. His throat clicked uselessly but no sound came out. He could feel the welts raising on his skin with every strike of whatever Wesker was using on him._

_“You’re mine, Chris. Do you think you can really escape me, after I’ve had you in every way imaginable?”  
“Fuck off,” he sputtered. Wesker swept glowing red eyes over his body before backhanding him hard across the face. His vision went dark, but the barely perceptible humming remained. _

Fear curls in his belly and his body wants to tremble, but he grits his teeth and regulates his breathing to prevent his thoughts from scattering.  

“Wesker is here,” he says to Piers after a long exhale.

“What?”

“Just...trust me.”

“I do, but…” Piers looks ready to curse again. “If you have to pull back, do it. We can’t lose anyone else. Got it?”

Merah and Finn nod. Chris swallows. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep the others safe. If Wesker’s here and it’s a choice between him and them? He knows what he has to do.

“Chris...” Piers gives him an imploring look.

Chris simply pats him on the shoulder.

“You’re a good leader, Piers. We’ll talk about it later.”

It’s as close to a promise as he can give, even if it’s one he knows he’s going to break if the situation calls for it.

 

=

_11:15am_

 

The room is bathed in blood. The guards who normally lingered around the headmistress are dead and scattered in chunks across the room. Gracia is in horrible condition, bleeding from a deep gouge in the midsection. With a badly shaking hand, she gives Sherry a bloodstained envelope. David, the student they saved, is looking at the one responsible. Jake has his gun trained on the inhuman figure.

Bindi stands with her back to them, examining the large stained glass window. Her right arm is bulging and disfigured, terminating in talons instead of fingers. The extra eyes on the right side of her face swivel disturbingly in varying directions. Sherry can’t help but think of the monsters in Racoon City, and of Dad… Despite the insectoid qualities, the bulging arm and claws remind her of what Dad became after he infected himself with the G virus. The only living person with that virus is _her_ , or at least that’s what Simmons told her and why she agreed to all the tests in the first place, but if he lied about everything else, why not lie about this?

Gracia holds out an arm, as if reaching for someone. “I’m...so...sorry…Doug…”

The arm falls heavily to the floor.  

“She died for her secrets _and_ her sins. How fitting.”

Her grip on the pistol tightens as Jake shift his stance in preparation to go on the offensive. Some part of her can’t believe Bindi is behind this, while the rest of her is angry for missing all the clues. However, there’s no way a high school student could have gotten her hands on a virus like this without outside help. Whoever supplied the virus must have used Bindi for their own ends. Nevertheless, Bindi is far from blameless in this.

David launches himself at Bindi, landing a solid hit with the heavy pipe he’s been using against the zombies. Bindi staggers back, but recovers too quickly and snatches David with the mutated arm. Jake and Sherry try to get in a shot without hurting David. Jake risks firing twice and misses, before David is tossed into the stained glass window.

The glass shatters from the impact. The boy flies out the window and plummets to the ground below. There is screaming almost immediately afterwards. Sherry goes after him and jumps out of the same window, only to see a zombie rip open his throat. Jake lands next to her as a herd of nearby zombies shamble over, having scented fresh blood. A sing-song voice above them mocks their inability to save anyone, before leaving them to their fate.

Shaking from the adrenaline, Sherry runs to a door, only for it to be locked. At the sound of approaching zombies, she opens fire and manages to down two of them right before her gun clicks empty. The three remaining zombies rush toward her, but are taken out by precise headshots.

“You ok?” Jake pauses and looks her over.

“Jake...”

They run towards the door to another building as more zombies start to come after them, having been attracted by the earlier commotion.

“I don’t have enough ammo to deal with all them. How much do you have?”

“I’m out,” she tells him. Jake tries the other door but it’s locked too. They are backed into a corner and completely surrounded by zombies with no escape in sight.

Unexpectedly, a spray of bullets take down all the zombies. A dark-haired man walks around the corner, decked out in heavy military gear. The semi-automatic in his hands dips to the ground as he approaches them. Even from a distance, she notices that his eyes are unusual. They are a reddish brown color, close to maroon.

“Chris reporting. I found two survivors.”

“Chris!” Claire’s older brother, Professor Wright’s friend, the B.S.A.A.’s top agent. Chris is here!

“You’re...” he looks at the faded red jacket, recognizing it even after all these years, “Sherry?”

=

Doug ushers the students up the fire escape as quietly as possible. So far, the outbreak has been mostly confined to the high school, allowing him and his group of kids to avoid the zombie infested areas. Last he heard, Lazar has moved a number of middle schoolers and surviving high schoolers to the chapel and barricaded the door. The buildings aren’t all interconnected and it’s dangerous to venture outside for too long. It’s been slow-going as he and the children move as quietly as they can from building to building, not wanting to draw the attention of either the infected students or the other monsters some of the children have seen. The roof of the building they are currently in isn’t as steepled than the others. He can see the chapel from here. They can potentially get closer to the chapel by cutting across the roof.

The area they’re in has one doorway, which is being blocked by a suspicious-looking man. He is wearing all black and his hair is such a light shade of blond it almost looks white. Doug motions for the kids to get back.

“You seem quite adept at getting out of bad situations,” the man remarks.

Doug keeps his gun at the ready. He’s not a great shot, but if he has to defend the kids, he will. A few of the kids are unable to hold back their sounds of fear.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

He gets no reply or acknowledgement from the man. Doug’s walkie-talkie suddenly crackles to life. “ _Dr. Wright! Lazar! The B.S.A.A. is here!_ ”

Tilting his head as if in curiosity, the man begins to advance threateningly toward Doug and the kids.

“Stay where you are!” Doug shouts, but the man doesn’t even slow down, despite the gun aimed at him. Afraid that the man is going to harm the children, Doug fires a shot, only for the man to disappear and reappear some distance away, his movements too fast for the human eye to track. At least he is not blocking the door anymore. The kids need no reminder to scramble through the door.

Before Doug can move, he is grabbed the shirtfront and lifted effortlessly off the floor. The flash of red behind the sunglasses makes him belatedly realize that this person must not be human. His gun and walkie-talkie are taken.

“I think I’ll let you live,” the man speaks at last.

Doug barely manages a sound of protest before he’s thrown into the same room as the kids, seeing now that it leads nowhere. He can only watch as the door slam shut before everything goes dark.


	9. ”The seven gates of the land of no return be opened before thee”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake and Sherry do their best to get out of the nightmare, Chris and Finn helping to lead the way. Meanwhile, Piers and Merah work to get to the chapel before it's too late.

##### |”The seven gates of the land of no return be opened before thee”|

 

_11:30 am_

 

Jake eyes the B.S.A.A. agent, who is speaking into the radio and directing two subordinates to help Lazar at the chapel.  By the way he’s giving orders, he is obviously the one in charge. Sherry is still trying to reach Lazar and Dr. Wright. The two of them haven’t checked in for at least an hour and it’s getting concerning. Whoever this Chris guy is, he seems to know his way around the school, or is just damned lucky. Either way, he got them to a place where they can finally take a breather after almost getting killed by zombies.

Lazar must be at the chapel by now. No idea where the professor is.

Chris gave them some bullets earlier and explained the situation at the port town, including the deaths of the mercenaries there. After all that’s happened today, Jake feels numb, and plans to keep himself that way.  

“You said there’s something else?” Chris asks Sherry. Jake feels his hackles rise, despite how innocent the question is. Chris has already been talking to her for ages about Bindi, Nanan, and the virus these two are spreading. He doesn’t like the guy talking to Sherry and possibly putting her in more danger, not after everything they’ve been through. They know nothing about this guy, other than that he is supposedly the brother of one of Sherry’s childhood saviors.  

Sherry hands over a bloodstained envelope. “I got this...from the headmistress.”

Gracia’s letter is addressed to Dr. Wright and full of regret about not listening to him and allowing her pride to make them enemies. He skips past the sappy stuff, which makes up nearly the whole message. At least there’s a point to this letter in the final few lines - there is a secret underground hangar with a helicopter. Gracia even gave them the code for the door.

 _I’ll pray for your safety_ and stay here, to deal with what my hubris has wrought, the letter ends melodramatically.

Jake tries to remember the best way to enter the underground area. Too bad he still doesn’t know the school that well. Chris is having a radio conversation with his team. Sherry calls the professor again, even though they’ve already tried it twenty times.

“Dr. Wright, Lazar, the B.S.A.A. is here. There’s a way out. Please respond!”

=

Finn finds a blueprint of the school grounds from the computer systems. The blueprint is unnecessarily hard to read, but he is able to use it to map out the quickest route for Merah and Piers to get to the chapel.  

“ _There’s a helicopter in an underground hangar,_ ” the Captain’s voice comes over the radio while Finn is directing the others to the chapel.

He listens closely as Chris describes where the helicopter is. The blueprint comes in handy again. He makes a note of the possible paths that they can potentially take without being backed into a dead end if things were to go wrong.

“ _Our main targets are two former students. They are infected and should appear visibly mutated. If you run into them, incapacitate them at all costs. Use deadly force if necessary. They’re responsible for the outbreak._ ”

“Finn here. I’m near an entrance to the underground. Captain, you’re near a corridor that will lead there as well if you follow it all the way east. I’ll go ahead and clear the way for you guys.”

“ _Copy that. I will have two survivors with me. Be careful, Finn._ ”

“Will do, sir.”  

The Captain’s voice clears Finn’s head and calms him down, even though he’s more than aware of how dangerous this mission is. He’s suddenly grateful for the knife that Chris gifted him. It’s a good combat knife, hefty and solid, and he’s trained well with it and even got a few pointers from Merah about how to to best use it when he’s not as strong as Piers or Chris. He’s not completely sure about her, but there’s no question of her abilities.

“ _We haven’t been able to reach Dr. Wright, but there are some survivors in the chapel. Merah, Piers, do you think you can reach them?_ ”

“ _Merah here. Copy that. I’ll head over there now.”_

“ _Piers here. I’ll head over with the Humvee - that will help us get the survivors to the helipad. The B.S.A.A. is going to get more aircraft here to drop off backup and evacuate the survivors, but it’ll take a while. In the meantime, we should get as many of the survivors to the helo._ ”

Finn swallows as he heads deeper into the underground, dropping a glow stick as a marker. He silently hopes that nothing else is stalking the darkness around him.

=

_12:12 pm_

 

Even with the extra weapons they got from Aca, it’s barely enough to arm the few students who are willing and able. The older kids have grabbed a few other makeshift weapons along the way, but it won’t be a match for the zombie horde outside. He’s hoping for some sort of secret passageway out of the chapel, but for all it’s antiquity, the chapel is painfully dull. At least the door is solid. They have barricaded it further.

“Jake, Sherry,” Lazar says over the walkie-talkie, “we had barricade the place. There isn’t another way out of here.”

Something is making a racket outside. A scream outside the door makes some of the younger students cry and huddle closer together.

“It sounds like something’s out there.”

“ _You’re shitting me._ ” Jake sounds upset. Whenever Jake gets like this, nothing can make him to stop feeling sorry for himself. Hell, it was why he and Marko tried to help things along when Jake started babbling about Sherry in terms that were, quite frankly, out of a romance novel. He has never talked about a woman other than his mother for more than a sentence or two, until Sherry.

When they get out of this, he is going to make Jake stay with Sherry and hopefully do at least some of the things Jake believes he said he wanted to do.

There’s no need to tell Jake that he and Marko made that all up.

“Wish I was. We can hear them right outside.”

Several pews are stacked against the door and near the windows. The door shudders from an impact. A stained glass window shatters behind the closed wooden shutters, making more of the kids cry.

A new voice, older and deeper, comes over the line. “ _Lazar, this is Chris Redfield from the B.S.A.A.. Two agents are coming to your location to help you. Are you all ok?”_

“Nice of you to ask. We are for now,” he eyes the crying kids, “though help will be much appreciated, Mr. B.S.A.A..”

“ _Be careful, Lazar,_ ” Jake says.

“We’ll see you in a bit, Jake,” Lazar promises and gives Milica an encouraging smile. He mouths a quick prayer to Saint Jovan, since the school is named after him and all. The screaming outside has stopped, but a familiar voice, one that they all recognize, comes from the other side of the closed shutters.

“Let me in, little sheep. Your shepherd is dead and it’s time for you to pay the price.”

Some of the younger kids try to hide behind the altar or the pews. A few older kids with guns aim shakily at the source of the voice. Lazar holds up a hand to stop them from firing.

Then, there is the sound of something sharp scratching against stone and wood. He can only hope that the shutters and door will keep her out until the B.S.A.A. reinforcements arrive.

“Lazar,” Milica whispers, holding the sword in a vice grip. Something begins to slam at the door, which rattles in its frame but stays in one piece. He picks up the walkie-talkie. “Dr. Wright, stay away from the chapel. Chris, the backup would be appreciated sooner rather than later.”

He puts the down the walkie-talkie and readies his gun in anticipation of what is coming.

=

_12:25pm_

 

Piers drives through the opened gates that have been ripped off their hinges, mowing down a few zombies along the way. Merah should be at the chapel already. Chris calls in to say that he has reached the underground with the two survivors. No news from Merah.

 _Shit_.

Worried about what may have happened to her and the others at the chapel, he floors it and pulls up in front of the chapel, tires screeching. The ancient door to the chapel is smashed to pieces. Next to the doorway is the mangled body of a girl. One hand is clutching a sword in a death-grip even though she’s all but been split in two. Beyond the door, congealing blood pools on the floor. He sees a mutated B.O.W. right away. Its head looks vaguely human, but the rest of it looks like a wasp. Massive claws rip into a beheaded body that’s not in a school uniform, then discards it. One of the B.O.W.’s membranous and oddly prehensile wings almost ensnare Merah before she barely dodges out of the way. Jagged stingers come after her next, cutting a long line up her arm. Blood is trickling down a corner of her mouth and her clothing is ripped. When she is struck again and sent flying, he sees that she’s only holding her combat knife.

Before the B.O.W. can finish her off, he drives the humvee into the monster. It lets out a screech as Piers rams it into a wall. Taking the opening, Merah scrambles to grab the gun from the corpse the monster discarded earlier and fires at the spear-like stinger, snapping it off. He steps harder on the gas pedal to squish the monster flatter against the wall. Its wings flap helplessly, denting parts of the humvee. When the struggles seem to weaken, he dives out of the vehicle, leaving behind the explosives in the passenger seat. Sprinting away, he pushes the trigger on the detonator.

The resulting explosion takes out most of the wall and partially buries the monster in rubble. It is still alive, but just barely. Piers lines up his rifle.

“Got ya.”

The monster’s head bursts open in a splatter of gore, its body collapsing bonelessly.

With the B.O.W. dead, he looks around at the carnage. Children’s bodies are scattered carelessly around the church. There’s no sign of survivors. Merah leans against a wall and sinks slowly to the floor.

“You ok?”

“That was close,” she smiles tiredly, “I owe you one.”

He has the irrational urge to ask her out for a drink, but the sight of the dead children sobers him.

“We’ll talk after this mission,” he says to her.

He goes around the chapel, checking each body for signs of life, but they are all dead. An odd human-shaped structure stands between the pews, looking almost like a broken wax figure or some kind of abstract modern art. It is hollow on the inside. He glances back at the charred monster carcass that is already starting to ooze black gunk onto what is left of the humvee. Did the B.O.W. hatch out of this thing?

“Chris, Finn, this is Piers. We managed to kill one of the infected behind this, but the humvee is destroyed.”

“ _Piers, this is Chris,_ ” Piers relaxes at the sound of the Captain’s voice, “ _We’re almost to the helipad. We’ll have to use the helicopter to get the survivors out… How many?”_

“...none,” he replies, feeling defeated, “the one responsible got here before we did. It’s dead, but…” He can’t think of anything else to say. The ones they were supposed to help are dead. There’s still no news from the professor...

“ _Do you need us to pick you up?”_

He glances at Merah, who shakes her head. “Negative. We’ll meet you at the helipad. We need to find the other B.O.W. as well.”

“ _You two focus on getting to the helipad. I can handle the other one, but we do need to make sure our escape route is open._ ” Chris’s wary voice carries a knowing tone, which set Piers on edge. Chris must have sensed the remaining B.O.W.. It’s probably close to where Chris is.

“We can’t let the other one escape,” Merah argues, “I’ll join you later. I have to--”

“We can’t split up here. Merah, we should find the others and eliminate the target together! This is the best option.”

She looks ready to protest again, but eventually nods. Finn is already calling in with directions to the helipad. Thankfully, the coast is clear despite the racket earlier. He and Merah hurriedly leave the chapel, before any more zombies arrive.

=

“FUCK!”

Jake is having a fit and stomping about in agitation, while Sherry and Finn try to calm him. Chris can’t really blame the kid. The mercenary, not much older than a boy really, has just found out that he is the only survivor of the Spiders, and likely one of the two sole survivors at the school.

Chris stays on high alert. His senses are already buzzing angrily as whatever is triggering it gets closer. He’s grateful that Piers and Merah didn’t question him and agreed to meet at the chopper instead of going after the remaining B.O.W. on their own.  

“You bastards always fuck up this badly on your own goddamn _job?”_

“Jake…” Sherry tries again.  
“WELL, _MISTER B.S.A.A.?_ Can’t you _\--_ ”

“Hold on,” he stops Jake’s angry tirade with a quiet word. The buzzing reaches a fever pitch, and he sees the thing that’s causing it. The infection is one that he’s never encountered before. The B.O.W.’s flesh is mutated into pulsating pustules that appear to be releasing something into the air through pores. Half of her face, that of a girl with auburn hair, looks human, but the rest of her is just pustules and lumpy tentacles.

“Get to the helicopter,” he says to Jake and Sherry, “Finn will keep you guys safe.”

If this thing is truly what infected the whole school, Finn and the survivors shouldn’t linger around and risk getting infected as well. As for himself… If his past reactions to the Uroboros virus are anything to go by, he should be immune, or at least be at lower risk of infection. The helipad isn’t far. He can take care of the B.O.W. himself and catch up with them later.

“No way,” Jake snarls, anger now directed at the thing that was named Nanan in life.

“We’re here to do our job, Jake,” he says as the B.O.W. approaches, tentacles twisting in the air as if trying to scent them. “Yours is to get to that helicopter with Sherry, and survive.”

Sherry starts to protest, but is interrupted by an attack from the B.O.W.. He deflects the attack, but the B.O.W. ends up dangerously close to Finn, who barely scrambles out of the way in time.

“She’s the one who’s spreading the virus. It’s airborne from her!” Jake yells.

“I mean it, RUN!”

He is relieved to see Jake and Sherry finally listen and begin to run, but the sudden appearance of another presence nearly makes his senses go haywire. How did he not notice this sooner? He barely has the time to mentally prepare himself when the person he never wants to see again steps into view. Wesker looks the same as before, dressed crisply in black with a leather jacket he’d forgone in Africa due to the heat.

“You’re far too self-sacrificing for your own good, Chris,” Wesker says, moving between them and the door to the helipad. The red eyes rake over him possessively from behind the sunglasses, before glancing at Jake and Sherry. Chris steps in front of them protectively. He has to buy them enough time to get out of here.

“But all of you are here in the right place. I really do owe that teacher a thanks for this.” A walkie-talkie is held up with a smirk. Sherry makes a sound of terror. “Now then, what will I do with you all?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a nice person.


	10. "Sprinkle Ishtar with the Waters of Life, and take her out of my presence."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of what will become the Marhawa Desire - Chris and the others face off against Wesker.

##### |”Sprinkle Ishtar with the Waters of life, and take her out of my presence.”|

 

Cursing, Finn dodges another attack from the hideous, blister-ridden B.O.W. and drives it back with a burst of gunfire. When one of the tentacles comes after him, he slices it off with his combat knife. The B.O.W. begins to emit a strange fog. It must be some kind of harmful airborne agent. Without a gas mask or anything else to keep himself and the others from breathing it in, it’s going to be trouble.

Tentacles try to pummel him and nearly succeed. He lands a few more bullets into the B.O.W., enough to draw its attention in order to lure it away from Chris and Jake, who are fighting the strange man. Even though it’s two against one, they are losing. When an impossibly powerful roundhouse kick knocks Chris across the room and into the wall with a painful thump, he has to force himself to focus on his own battle. The B.O.W. is producing more and more of the fog, preventing him from getting close.

_Think, THINK!_

By chance, he spots the controls for the ventilation system. He rushes over and pulls what he hopes are the right levers, and sighs in relief when the fans turn on and clear the air. The B.O.W. shambles towards him and begins to attack again, but this time he catches the tentacle and stabs the combat knife into the core of the monster.

He always takes care of his weapons, and the knife Chris gifted him is razor sharp.

The blade cleanly severs the B.O.W.’s spine. The thing that used to be a teenage girl staggers and falls after the knife is pulled free, the final spark of un-life leaving it. He gives the inanimate pile a cursory check to make sure it is truly dead, then goes to help the others. He’s alarmed to see the Captain struggling for air, held up effortlessly by the enemy with one hand.

“Let him go!” He yells, aiming his gun in their direction. The enemy looks at him like he is an afterthought, but thankfully drops Chris. Before he can react, the man disappears in a blur and reappears right in front of him. He tries to back away, but isn’t fast enough and is thrown into the pipes nearby. As the blond man advances menacingly towards him, Chris launches himself at the man with an air of desperation. While the two are trading blows, Sherry runs to the door to the helicopter hangar and punches in the code.

He bites back a groan of pain as he stands up on shaky legs, unsure of what to do. He needs to help the Captain, but the enemy is too close. He doesn’t want to risk shooting the wrong person. However, when Chris is knocked down by a vicious uppercut that leaves him dazed, Finn raises up his gun and takes aim. There’s no other choice. He has to do something. He _can’t_ miss.

The gun is ripped from his hands before his finger can touch the trigger. In his peripheral vision, Chris is frantically scrambling back to his feet and running towards them. Another motion from the blond man, too quick for the human eye to track, launches Chris into Jake, both landing in an awkward tangle of limbs. Finn tries to attack again, but is put into a choke-hold. Something pricks his skin. He freezes, eyes darting to the injector against his neck.

“It’s only just pierced the skin,” the man says.

“Stop this, Wesker!” Chris yells, his voice tinged with fear. Bruises are forming along his face and neck. Jake is making his way to Sherry and the two stand frozen. Finn wants to tell them to run for it, but feels tongue-tied. What is he going to be injected with? The virus that infected the town? The one at the school?  

“Is he one of your men, Chris? He did quite the number on the last test subject,” the enemy (Wesker?) asks rhetorically. Chris keeps his gun trained on Wesker, the two of them at a standstill.

Finn does his best to not panic. Whatever happens, his Captain will do his best to get them out alive. Chris’s eyes meet his briefly. “You weren’t going to keep it anyway. Let him go.”

Wesker chuckles. Jake and Sherry start to edge towards the open door towards the helicopter. If the man notices or cares, he certainly doesn’t show it.

“You’ve been away for far too long, Chris, if you think I’ll give into your demands even if you ask nicely.”

“I’m not asking,” Chris bites out, his tone enough to chill anyone else.

The two survivors finally take off through the door to the helipad. Hopefully Wesker won’t do anything to stop them. Whatever the man - monster - holding him is, he can’t get free. When the grip gets tighter, Chris’s eyes widen with undisguised fear.

“I’m not letting what’s mine get away from me again.” The man’s tone is dangerous. Finn is suddenly released from the chokehold and pitched forward. Chris grabs his shoulders to steady him, before pushing him towards the door.

“GO! Keep them safe!”

He obeys instinctively and runs after Jake and Sherry into the hangar, leaving behind them the sound of fighting. He locks the door behind him, hating himself for letting Chris deal with such a dangerous enemy alone, but he has to follow orders and get the two survivors out of here.

“Hurry, get the lift going!” He tells the other two as he prepares the helicopter. It is smaller than he would like, but it’ll have to do.

“But Chris--”

“Sherry, he can handle himself. Come on!” Jake starts the lift.

It takes a painfully long time for the rarely-used lift to grind into motion, dust kicking up as it does. The helipad begins to rise at a snail’s pace.

Before they have gotten very far, the locked steel door separating them from Chris and Wesker is suddenly knocked clean off its hinges. Chris sprints through the doorway and leaps effortlessly onto the rising platform. Wesker is close behind. Realizing that the situation is terribly off, Finn scrambles out of the cockpit to put himself between Wesker and the survivors, but Chris disarms him and holds him in place with an iron grip.

Chris’s eyes are dull and distant, making him look almost like a doll. Finn hears a scuffle in Jake and Sherry’s direction, then sound of two bodies hitting the floor. Wesker swaggers forward, an injector in his hand.

Finn struggles harder, but Chris is too strong.

“Captain, let me go! Please sir!”

His pleas fail to garner a response. His stomach churns with dread. The Captain won’t betray him. Wesker must have done something to cause this. It’s the only explanation.

“I’m loathe to keep them unconscious, as I have much to talk to them about. However, we do need to be on our way.”

Finn tries to call in a warning to Piers and Merah, only for his ear piece to be flung away and the grip on his wrists to tighten. He hisses in pain as his bones creak in protest. The second he does, Chris lets out a choked sound and loosens his grip. Not waiting to figure out why, Finn twists out of the hold and lunges for his weapons, only for Wesker to grab him again. This time, the villain wastes no time in stabbing him with the injector and depressing the plunger. Behind him, Chris makes another sound of distress.

“It’s just the P30, Chris. He’ll be fine. Watch.”

Finn falls to his knees, suddenly having trouble making his limbs obey. His mind feels oddly disconnected from his body.

“Can you fly this helicopter?”

_Don’t answer, don’t--_

“Yes,” he answers immediately.

He wants to clench his fist and punch the smug bastard in the face, but can’t seem to lift a single finger against him. This must be why Chris isn’t acting like himself.

Wesker smirks, as if aware of his futile internal resistance.  “Good. Now, go get our other guests ready. We will depart as soon as possible.”

He can only internally scream in protest as his body moves to pick up the unconscious Sherry and Jake, then follows Wesker and Chris to the helicopter.

=

Piers runs towards the helipad, which is now at ground level. Chris and Finn are in the cockpit, but they haven’t even noticed Merah and him.

Merah yells out a warning. He twists and barely evades a punch from a blond man wearing all black. It’s Albert Wesker, the bioterrorist that he has only seen pictures of. Judging by the current state of things, Wesker must be using something to control Chris once again. The same thing that was used on Hosea and Ramirez, the same thing that was used to hold Chris in Wesker’s thrall while Wesker did who knows what to him, is being used on Chris again, and on _Finn!_

Despite his otherwise human appearance, Wesker moves with a dizzying speed that is fast enough to evade bullets. All of Piers’s shots miss, and he rarely misses. He is forced to hold his fire when Wesker moves too close to the helicopter. It’s not military-grade and a bullet will probably damage the hull. He can’t risk hurting any survivors or his teammates in the helicopter.

More and more of the infected students are pushing at the fence that is keeping them at bay for who knows how much longer. They really don’t need this right now.

He barely sees Wesker turn into a black blur before he’s suddenly thrown into the hull of the helicopter with such force that his bones creak. Copper-tasting liquid fills his mouth. He falls to the ground, paralyzed. Wesker wags a finger at him and walks away leisurely. For a nerve-wracking second, he fears that the paralysis is permanent, but thankfully movement gradually returns. The second he regains enough strength to stand up, he lunges at the terrorist.

According to their intel, Wesker is immune to most attacks. Fisticuffs and bullets probably won’t do much, but Piers has to try. He manages to catch Wesker off guard with a hit in the kidneys, knocking the man back. Merah immediately opens fire at the villain. With Wesker distracted for now, Piers turns to Chris and Finn, who are preparing the helicopter for liftoff, apparently oblivious to the fight. The two survivors are unconscious and tied up in the back.  

Getting into the helicopter, he yells at Chris and Finn, trying to snap them out of it. They make no indications of having heard him. Before he can try anything else, Wesker reappears and grabs him, intending to pull him out of the helicopter. He kicks and struggles. Wesker is probably going to throw him into the helicopter blades and it won’t be a neat death. A lucky kick hits Wesker’s knee just right to make him stagger. Pushing his luck as far as he can, he goes for another attack.

There is a gunshot right before pain erupts in his left shoulder. He collapses next to the cockpit. The front of his shirt feels soggy. Wesker is a few feet away and not holding a gun.

There is another gunshot as the helicopter begins to rise. He blinks. Merah is holding a gun in her hands, reloading it and taking aim at them, though the shot goes wide when she gets distracted by the zombie horde that finally breaks past the fence. He cries out for her in confusion. She must have hit him by accident, but Wesker wasn’t even near the cockpit… She’s too good of a shot to miss by this much. What was she aiming for?  

The door closes, blocking Merah from view. The jostling of the helo’s ascent makes his vision blur. His head lolls forward, too heavy to hold up.

“You did well to get in the way of that bullet,” Wesker comments casually, not seeing him as a threat.

He fights to remain conscious, but it’s a losing battle. Wesker moves over to him and puts pressure on his wounded shoulder.

“It appears that you saved my Chris. I suppose this means I should at least save you.”

The pressure on his shoulder increases, causing blackness to creep into the edges of his vision. Something digs into the wound and his brain shuts down altogether.

=

_En Route to B.S.A.A. Eastern European Headquarters_

_December 24, 2010_

_Various Time Zones_

 

Jill listens to the radio with bated breath as Delta team begins a sweep of St. Jovan Academy. The UN and B.S.A.A. forces have captured the leaders of the now-disbanded ELA, but not in time to prevent the the port town’s destruction by Neo-Umbrella’s virus and the ELA’s artillery bombardments. The ELA’s coup has been stopped, but not before bringing devastation and chaos to the country.

For some reason, she can’t bring herself to care about it. Affini and his aide, Gabe Harper, are muttering something along the same lines. Neither she nor Affini have started their usual fights, a testament to how grave the situation is. The entirety of Charlie team is MIA. There’s been no contact from Alpha team ever since Piers sent news that the school was infected by a previously undocumented virus.

There is no media coverage from reporters, who have been barred from the quarantined port town. Ever since the ELA’s attack on the country’s capital, the B.S.A.A.’s media people have been working around the clock to try to keep the news outlets from getting too speculative and sensational.

Calls are already flooding in from worried parents, not surprising given that the school’s teachers and administrators are no longer around to answer questions. The same is happening with people who are trying to learn more about what happened at the town.

With each update from Delta, she and Affini grow increasingly quiet. Even Harper, who is normally chomping at the bit for an argument, looks subdued over the massive death toll at the school.

Delta Team finds one member from Alpha Team, Merah Biji. She is down to her combat knife and badly hurt, but doesn’t look infected. The next update of substance, nearly an hour and a half later, gives Jill a flutter of hope.

“ _We located survivors!_ ”

Before being taken away for medical treatment, Merah said that Alpha team encountered no survivors.

“ _We confirm twelve students. Dr. Wright is with them._ ”

This is more than the number of survivors found at the port town. The survivors from town have all shown signs of infection and are being kept in quarantine until some kind of treatment can be found. Merah Biji, who showed promise as a researcher before her inexplicable request to transfer to field work, is alive and can be reassigned to work on a cure. Dr. Wright has survived as well, and will no doubt be willing to assist the B.S.A.A. again.

Later on, there is more good news: more children found alive, some protected by teachers and nuns who sacrificed themselves, others hidden in various nooks and crannies of the massive school.

Then comes the video footage of the chapel. Jill’s heart runs cold at the sight, reminded of the first time the stench of death and gore had caught up to her. At least then, she was near a bathroom with a functioning toilet to puke into. Affini and Harper depart to presumably do just that, given how little actual field experience the two have.

Piers had reported that there were three mercenaries from the Spiders group at the school, though one had already died before Alpha team arrived. Only two out of three are accounted for - the beheaded corpse in the bloodbath that is the chapel, and the body of a young man showing the initial signs of infection found on a rooftop near what appears to have been a large gathering. That was likely the epicenter of the whole incident, judging by the pattern of dead bodies strewn about.

When Affini returns, Harper is not with him.

“I doubt they’ll be there. The helicopter is gone. Maybe they got away.”

“You’re being unusually optimistic” she points out, leaning back in her chair. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“We both get the same reports, Valentine. There’s nothing--”

“Bullshit. What’s got you so sure?”

Affini doesn’t even look affronted. Most of their conversations end with one of them cursing. At least she’s learned a few Italian swear words out of these experiences.

He is quiet for a moment, as if trying to figure out his next course of action. “We can speak to Merah Biji about what happened and do our best to corroborate her story with Wright’s, but we both have an idea of who got onto that helicopter with them. They wouldn’t have left on their own devices without contacting us.”

She’s silent. If only there could be a more benign explanation for why Chris and two Alpha team members have gone missing with the helicopter, but with how catastrophically things have turned out thus far…

“I hope you’re not implying that he left voluntarily.” She briefly looks back at the screens, which show a dead girl and the corpse of a zombified nun nearby, the blood on its maw telling the tale more than anything else. “Whatever happened, we both know who that’s likely to have taken them. We have the recovered recording devices from Hosea and Ramirez. We have to be prepared for what’s to come.”


	11. ”If Ishtar will not grant thee her release, to Tammuz...pour out pure waters...that the votaries may cheer his spirit.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris wakes up and discovers that he's once more with Wesker.

#####  |”If Ishtar will not grant thee her release, to Tammuz...pour out pure waters...that the votaries may cheer his spirit.”|

 

_ Undisclosed location _

 

Chris slowly comes to, eyes unable to focus and temples throbbing with a pounding headache. He remembers sending Finn with the survivors to escape and blows exchanged with Wesker. The rest is a confusing blur.

He is laying on a soft and comfortable surface, a bed by the feel of it. There is a familiar presence at the back of his mind. It makes him feel good, safe. Maybe the B.S.A.A. found him and took him somewhere to rest. Wanting to go back to sleep, he almost lets his eyes close of their own accord. No, he should get up and check on his team and the survivors. He can rest later. 

He moves to sit up but finds that he can’t fully bring his arms to his sides. There are manacles, each connected to a chain, around his wrists and ankles. He’s not naked, though he might as well be, his boxers doing nothing to protect him. The rest of his clothing and gear are gone. A gnawing apprehension builds in his belly. He can’t figure out where he is. It’s so hard to string his thoughts together, like he is wading through molasses.

Blinking until his vision clears, he props himself up on his elbows and sees some items in front of him on the other side of the room. They look like the stuff that Wesker used to torment him during those months in Africa. Fear spikes when he finally realizes where he is: a room where he will be used. Despite the months of freedom and safety, it’s happening all over again. He’s back here, trapped, and his entire team is dead or worse. 

He’s failed them like before.

There is an overwhelming tightness inside his chest. He feels lightheaded. Finn... Piers… Merah... If they’re still alive, he has to protect them… At any cost.

He turns away from the items, only to come face to face with Wesker lounging in a chair, jacket thrown over the backrest and sunglasses off. The man is watching him intently, the yellow seeping into his eyes a precursor of what’s to come. Unable to control himself, he begins to struggle against the chains, which are long enough to permit some movement, but not much. He retreats as close to the headboard as possible and tries to curl into a ball, but there isn’t enough slack in the chains for him to do so. Winding into a panic, he thrashes mindlessly against the restraints until he is hyperventilating. The chains creak ominously from the strain, but do not yield.  Wesker lets him struggle for a few minutes, before approaching with an amused expression.

“No!” He kicks out but the foot is caught. A hand moves up the inner thigh of his other leg. He’s pulled back down and spread out for the madman. Despite becoming stronger as a result of being infected with Wesker’s virus, he is still no match for the original when it comes to brute strength.

“Let me go!”  _ Wake up! Let this be a nightmare, anything, please! _

When the man moves between his legs, he tries to kick again, but the chains stop it from connecting. Wesker sweeps a possessive gaze over his body, then holds down his hip with one hand in a bruising grip. The other hand moves to his chest and lightly tweaks one nipple to a peak. His body reacts to the familiar motions like an addict looking forward to the next hit. His nerve endings are all but singing in pleasure from each touch and yearning for more, even though he is distraught from self-loathing to the point of nausea. Wesker lines up their bodies in order to nip at the faded scars at the junction between neck and shoulder. The memory of being viciously bitten there is still fresh. His mind floods with fear and a need to fight, escape, beg, but his body feels…good. 

He begins to shiver involuntarily, frightened by the complete disconnect between his mind and body. 

Wesker lets out a low, guttural growl and rolls their hips together. Burning with shame, he barely stops his hips from bucking up. The feel of his captor’s clothed erection rubbing against his own makes him start fighting again, to regain control of the body that is so determined to betray him. 

His resistance does nothing to stop Wesker from kissing down his chest and making his back arch with each teasing contact. The boxers are ripped off. Wesker hums in approval at the sight and licks a line up his straining erection. His head falls back involuntarily to expose his neck.

**_At least he doesn’t just take what he wants,_ ** **not that you’re worth his effort. You should** **_give in. He’s doing so much for you,_ ** **more than you deserve. You should just** _ NO! No, I don’t want this, I don’t, not this, no more, please stop, stop… _

“Stop… Don’t!”

Not bothering to reply, Wesker simply swallows him down. He is unable to hold back a cry of pleasure as his body strains to both get away and get closer to the feeling he has not had for months, that he’s been dreaming about  _ in nightmares, I’ve had nightmares, stop, stop this, please  _ **_it feels good, so good,_ ** **better than you deserve for the failure you are.**

Wesker pauses to get something from the bedside table. He tries to use this opportunity to buck Wesker off, even though it’s pointless and he is pulled flat on his back again. When lubed fingers begin tracing his hole, something in him snaps. He fights back like a cornered animal, kicking, scratching, and biting. Wesker holds him easily, but he refuses to stop until his limbs are leaden with exhaustion. Collapsing onto the bed at last, he feels dizzy and out of breath, his vision blurry from tears. Without missing a beat, Wesker takes the time to slowly work the fingers into him, yellow eyes glowing gleefully.  He shakes his head in denial as his cock twitches from the stimulation. He can’t do this, not again, but having already exhausted himself, he can only lay there and take it.

The fingers withdraw and something much thicker shoves into him steadily. He screams as he comes from the unbelievably pleasurable sensations. Holding his hips in place with both hands, Wesker begins thrusting into him at a grueling pace. He cries and writhes, but his body is eager to be used.

“ _ Mine _ ,” Wesker speaks at last, teeth grazing along his neck. He tries to squirm away, ever fearful of being marked by another savage bite. 

“You’re  _ mine _ , Chris. My Pointman. My best man. Mine!”

“No...” he begins to protest, but the rest of it catches in his throat as Wesker continues the punishing pace and cants his hips up for a better angle. One hand grabs his hair, pulling his head back so Wesker can kiss and nip under his jaw and along his neck. Pain lances through his scalp when the grip on his hair tightens. He shuts his eyes in preparation, expecting more pain to erupt in his shoulder or somewhere else, but it doesn’t happen. For some reason, the frantic pace is becoming slower and more sensual. Every thrust into him hits the spot that makes his vision white out. His throbbing cock is rubbed between their bodies, slickened by sweat and other fluids. 

Shaking violently, he tries to keep himself together. He needs to save Piers, Finn, Merah, and those two survivors - Sherry and Jake. His body is only reacting like this because of the virus Wesker pushed on him and  **you’d have been eager for it anyway, because you always bend over for your Captain.** He doesn’t want this, he doesn’t! Wesker betrayed and killed who knows how many people and needs to be stopped!  **Go on, moan like the slut you are.** The traitor needs to be put down before anyone else gets killed.  **_Just behave, lay back and take_ ** **it like you’re supposed to.** He doesn’t want this. No more... Stop! NO!

“Chris.” 

He doesn't even realize that he is sobbing and barely able to get air into his lungs until Wesker is speaking softly into his ear and gently stroking his hair, as if trying to calm a panicking animal. This whole facade enrages him, like the bastard didn't kill his team and threaten his sister, like everything in Africa didn't happen, like he isn't tied down and being fucked against his will. Anguished wails spill out of him and he twists his head out of Wesker's hand, once more trying to scratch and bite. But when he's lifted upright and moved to straddle Wesker's lap, he begins to calm in spite of himself, even though the position brings him face to face with the man who is still fucking him. 

“My Chris, shhh.” 

The screams gradually subside into weak sounds of keening. He tries to move off Wesker’s lap, but only succeeds in impaling himself deeper. Wesker holds him tight, hips jerking up into him in a steady rhythm. Involuntarily, the tears stop and the feral struggles taper off. 

What is happening to him?

“Enough. I have you. Mine again.”

The yellow has faded from Wesker’s eyes, leaving behind red. Continuing to murmur soothing lies, Wesker moves at a leisurely pace. A hand moves from his hip and begins to touch every one of his sensitive spots. He wants to be horrified, but coherent thought slides further out of reach with each bolt of pleasure that wracks his body. When he is tipped over the edge for the second time, he moans, shaking as something warm floods into him. 

Wesker slowly lays him back down on the bed. It feels good, like he is with someone who cares, like  **you ever matter? Please, you’re always a slut for your Captain.**

A hand wraps around his still-sensitive cock, expertly bringing it back to fullness. The other hand begins to rub gentle circles over the soft skin where hip joins thigh. His mouth falls open in a needy gasp.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited to have you back? It took far longer than it should have,” Wesker says, continuing to jack him off. 

Too busy trying lean into the touches, he barely hears the words.

“I really should have started by punishing you for what you did, but you were too… irresistible. You’ve caused me a great deal of trouble, running off with Jill.” 

The mention of Jill jolts him out of this addled state of mind, like he’s been dunked in cold water. Disoriented, he tries to struggle immediately, making Wesker’s eyes narrow in annoyance. It takes an immense effort for him to not hurl in disgust at himself. It’s only the first day and he, a grown man, is already screaming, crying, and losing his mind. At the rate he’s going, he’ll be eating out of Wesker’s hand by the end of the week. He can’t keep being this weak and pathetic. 

He shakes his head in denial, and succeeds in not making a sound when Wesker twists his nipples painfully before lightly licking at the abused nubs. 

“You’re always so eager to contradict me, aren’t you?” 

The red eyes glow briefly when Wesker stops the handjob and squeezes the base of his cock, making his entire body tense in frustration at the interruption of pleasure. 

“We’ve been apart for four months thanks to the machinations of the B.S.A.A.. I intend to make up for all of that lost time.”

“F-fuck...off…” he manages to sputter, “I wish...I’d put a bullet through your head.”

Wesker’s hand goes to his throat, the pressure not enough to choke, but the threat is clear. He does his best to glare back, to gather the tatters of his defiance into some semblance of resistance. 

Wesker’s expression turns from anger into lust, as if his defiance is a turn-on. The maniac leans in to lightly kiss him on the cheek. 

“Let’s see how long that attitude stays this time, Chris. I don’t intend to let you go, and no one is coming for you.”

The promise makes him shudder. Maybe there is really no way out this time.

=

Wesker bites viciously into Chris’s nipples and tightens his grip around the base of the hard, dripping cock just before the younger man can climax. Only a few drops dribble out, leaving Chris desperate from another denial. In hindsight, he should have secured Chris in something that allows for more positions than on his back or sitting up, but the need to reclaim and explore each spot that makes his point man’s body arch in pleasure had been too much to ignore at the time. He wants to see Chris unguarded and in the midst of ecstasy, helpless to resist whatever reward or punishment given to him.

Chris’s body moves as close to him as possible, all but demanding his touch, and jerks back whenever pain is inflicted. This seesaw of movement has been going on for the past few hours.

He isn’t going to start the punishments for the four months of betrayal just yet. That will be for later. Right now, he wants to see how much pleasure he can give Chris. Each kiss, each touch, each stalled or allowed orgasm will take Chris apart until his captive is putty in his hands. After he’s had his fun, then Chris will cry out in pain instead of pleasure.

“B-bas..ah...bastard...ah...no...stop!” 

He smiles and licks one last line along Chris’s cock, lapping up the few spurts that come out. Chris has been kept on the edge of climax for a good while. The last few ruined orgasms have been sweet to taste, sweeter still to watch. As fun as it would be to continue this, it is about time to give Chris some release.

“Do you really want me to stop, Chris?” he mutters, slowly kneading Chris’s balls as he moves up to kiss and suck at the marked skin along Chris’s shoulders. His point man turns away, tears and sweat mingling on the sheets as he tries to deny his needs. It’s a good look for him, being taken apart like this.

Chris is trying to regulate his breathing in an attempt to pull himself together, but the younger man can’t be allowed to recover just yet. He has already taken Chris multiple times over the past few hours before bringing him to this point using only mouth and hands. As much as he wants to use Chris’s mouth, Chris is unlikely to cooperate at the moment. Fortunately, with so many other things to do, he doesn’t mind waiting until his captive is more tamed.

Licking down the throbbing shaft and aching balls, he reaches back to trace the red ring of the thoroughly used hole and once more works his fingers in.

“You’re still full of my cum, but I’m sure we can fit in some more.” 

Barely able to shake his head, Chris can only moan. He finger-fucks Chris hard, hitting the prostate mercilessly. Once Chris is incoherent from being kept at the boiling point, he lines himself up and presses inside in one smooth stroke. Chris’s entire body spasms. 

He begins to move at a deliberate pace. It’s tempting to go hard and fast like before, but finishing things off slowly to prolong Chris’s orgasm and make his body a livewire will be far more conducive for what will happen later. His captive has regained some of his stubborn willfulness during their time apart. It’s long overdue for a hard lesson about the consequences of trying to escape, a lesson that will stick better if Chris’s mental defenses are worn down. 

“I’m going to enjoy reminding you of who you belong to,” he says, smiling at the maroon color of Chris’s eyes, the sign that his point man has been irrevocably changed. It is just a matter of time until the fear and denial turn into desire, when Chris once again gives himself over to the pleasure in both body and mind, when he stops fighting and becomes incapable of thinking about anything else… However, that defiant spark should remain. Snuffing it out permanently would likely kill him. 

Struggling deliriously against the inescapable pleasure, Chris edges towards release once more. He lifts one of his captive’s legs up as far as the chain permits and wraps the other leg around his waist, just like the very first time he took Chris, except this time it’s only the two of them, without anyone else in the way.

“We’ve only just begun,” he promises, though Chris is past being able to comprehend him. 

There is a strangled whine when he takes Chris in hand and begins to stroke in time with his thrusts. He continues the measured movements, allowing his own orgasm to gradually build. When the tight heat around him clenches tellingly, he pushes in deeper and wraps his arms possessively around Chris. They climax together. Every muscle in his point man’s body seizes in agonized pleasure, before falling limp.

He lays Chris down on the bed. The younger man is noticeably trembling after the onslaught of sensations. 

Now that Chris is back in his rightful place, there’s no shortage of time. He is going to use every second of it make sure Chris knows who he belongs to.

_ This time, nothing is going to make us part. You’re mine, and will always be mine. No matter what. _

Once more, he runs a claiming hand over his captive, who is struggling to recover from the bliss his body has been subjected to. It’s tempting to go for another round, but too much of a good thing would give Chris the wrong idea. 

The thought of tormenting Chris’s subordinates, just to see how Chris will react, crosses his mind, but he banishes it for now. The injured one is unlikely to ever use that arm again, given where the bullet struck. The younger one looks to be cut from the same cloth, mindlessly loyal and uninspiring with regard to intellect. Seeing how Chris interacts with them later on will no doubt be entertaining. 

Still incoherent from overstimulation, Chris tries and fails to curl into a fetal position, forgetting about the manacles and chains holding him open and vulnerable. Wesker chuckles at the sight and gets dressed. Chris can have a few minutes to recover, but soon it’ll be time to show his Pointman how displeased he is about their months apart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another story, promise! After all, they are together again, with new people and everything. 
> 
> Thank you again to all of the fans, and to my lovely beta Lullite for everything she does and fixing up the story. She's seriously helping out a lot with this story, and I owe her a lot for getting this idea rolling and going.


End file.
